On V List of Movie Reviews

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Victory (1996)

Rate: 8
Viewed: 10/20

10/20: Finely crafted, Victory has it all: exotic locales, old-fashioned storytelling, tailored costumes, antique interior sets, and weird people.

Sure, I'm constantly reminded of Lord Jim, and it's hard to go wrong with Joseph Conrad. The rich, realistic sketch of characters is the film's strongest point. After a while of being familiar with them, the transition to the mystery is easily made, and it's when things start cooking.

Only the last fifteen minutes leaves me a bit disappointed. It's good, yes, but there seems some laziness on the editing side. The narrator's gist of Axel Heyst is underwhelming, prompting me to say he didn't know him at all. Regardless, the ambience is stunning which was shot on location in East Java.

The cast is great with Willem Dafoe and Rufus Sewell giving their best. Sam Neill plays an oddball that's hard to make heads or tails of. Irène Jacob is fine but can be lacking at times. Then again, her character is supposed to betray Heyst, but he's too blind to sense it. Jean Yanne is fun to watch. Given his small role, Simon Callow embarrasses himself by going back to Amadeus.

All in all, Victory may be a low-key picture, but it's quite enjoyable on the whole with many likeable elements.

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