5
minute read
Joseph Conrad's depiction of the dark side of the human psyche influenced some of the most iconic films of all time from Francis Ford Coppola's masterpiece Apocalypse Now to Ridley Scott’s The Duellists and many others. Here are 10 directors who brilliantly transformed Conrad's writing from the page to the screen.
1. Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now (1979)
The heat is oppressive and the air is thick with the stench of war. Captain Willard (Martin Sheen) is on a treacherous journey upriver in Vietnam in 1970. His mission: to track down Colonel Kurtz (Marlon Brando), a former hero gone mad. As Willard travels deep into the jungle, his journey becomes increasingly surreal and haunting. With a crew of eccentric characters by his side - including a surfing-obsessed Air Cavalry officer (Robert Duvall) and a manic photographer (Dennis Hopper) - Willard plunges into the heart of darkness, where the line between sanity and madness blur. (Prime Video, Rakuten, Microsoft, Sky Store, ITVX in the UK)
Danny Boyle's The Beach (2000)
Danny Boyle’s The Beach is based on Alex Garland’s cult book of the same name - but in many ways it is also a loose adaptation of Heart of Darkness, academics argue. Both involve an adventure into the unknown, a meeting of Western and non-Western cultures, and ultimately a trip to the dark side as young American backpacker Richard (Leonardo DiCaprio) sets out on a thrilling adventure to discover a mystical paradise known as ‘The Beach’. The imperfections lurking beneath the surface turn the trip into a bleak and ominous experience. (YouTube, Google, Apple TV, Prime Video)
3. Director David Michôd’s The Rover (2014)
In the wake of an economic meltdown, law and order vanish in Australia’s outback. It is now a wasteland of crime, poverty, and military patrols. When a robbery goes wrong, Archie, Caleb, and Henry flee but crash their car. They are soon on the run from a mysterious loner named Eric whose past is slowly revealed. Based on Conrad's novel The Rover, the movie stars Guy Pearce (A Spy Among Friends) and Robert Pattinson (The Batman). (Google Play, YouTube, Apple TV, Prime Video.)
4. Richard Brooks’ Lord Jim (1965)
Peter O'Toole delivers a captivating performance as Jim, a young seaman who abandons a ship, confesses to his dereliction of duty, and becomes a drifter, searching for redemption. He accepts a job transporting gunpowder and rifles to a village teaming with bandits. He faces danger at every turn, but is this Jim’s redemption or is his past about to catch up with him? Lord Jim is based on Conrad’s electrifying novel of the same name. (Apple+, YouTube, Google Play, Prime Video)
5. Alfred Hitchcock’s Sabotage (1936)
Enter the seedy underbelly of 1880s London, where Verloc, a purveyor of illicit books, leads a double life as a spy for the Russian government. Meanwhile, saboteurs are causing havoc in London with a series of explosive terrorist attacks. Are the two connected? A Scotland Yard detective believes so. Hitchcock’s thriller Sabotage is loosely based on Conrad's 1907 novel The Secret Agent, about a woman who discovers her husband is a terrorist agent. (YouTube)
6. Mark Peploe’s Victory (1996)
Victory transports us into a thrilling world of intrigue, where nothing is as it seems and every character holds a secret. Directed by Mark Peploe, this suspenseful French-German drama draws us in with a talented cast that includes Willem Dafoe, Irène Jacob, and Sam Neill. As the story unfolds, a web of deception unravels, leaving the audience guessing until the end. Victory is a masterful adaptation of Conrad's 1915 novel of the same name. (Google Play, YouTube, Prime Video)
7. Peter Fudakowski’s The Secret Sharer (2014)
A rusting cargo ship in the South China Sea becomes the haunting setting for a young Polish captain's first command. The Chinese crew suspects he and his unscrupulous boss have a devious plan to scuttle the ship for an insurance scam. As the crew mutinies, leaving the captain anchored in a bay, a naked body tangled in the ship's rope ladder floats toward him. The eerie tale of The Secret Sharer is inspired by Conrad's short story. (Prime Video, Google Play, YouTube)
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