Victory

Given its fine cast and tony pedigree, one would expect this movie to be more than a workmanlike adaptation of the novel by Joseph Conrad. 1913, Surabaya, The Dutch East Indies: Axel Heyst (Willem Dafoe) became an outcast after his partner, Morrison, ruins their coal company and though Morrison subsequently died from natural causes, the vicious local gossip suggests that Axel had something to do with his death. Hotelier Schomberg (Jean Yanne) keeps an eye on Axel's socializing while dabbling in some illegal business of his own. Schomberg's partner in crime, Mr. Sangiacomo (Simon Callow), poses as a booking agent and provides Schomberg's male clientele with unhappy h...