MovieChat Forums > The Secret Agent (1996) Discussion > This wonderful adaption is unfairly unde...

This wonderful adaption is unfairly underrated

posted 15 years ago by micaofboca-1
4 replies | jump to latest

IF anyone is familiar with Joseph Conrad's style of writing they should allow much more license to anyone brave enough to unravel its characterizations and events. It's not that he abstracts to the degree of James Joyce. It's just that his unique language that he extracts out of his non-native English (he's Polish) is so magically poetic that every sentence requires the degree of thought it takes when reading a European philosopher like Kant. So to translate that to a screenplay or a theatrical script is a very difficult task. The movie of Heart of Darkness couldn't capture Conrad despite the wonderful cast of Tim Roth and John Malkovich. It just didn't translate well at all.
However this version of Secret Agent is so adept at filling in the gaps it just is so unfair to underrate such a professional version. And to chastize Patricia Arquette simply because her accent is unfaithful is to overlook all of the sublety she put into this part. My God. It's like Ken Starr destroying Clinton's economic record because of a sexual peccadillo. She just put so much affect into her personality I was amazed this was the Tarantino starlet of True Romance. What a wide range this consummate professional actress commands. Her detractors are unfair. And Bob Hoskins put such a choreographed body language into his little weasel traitor "double agent" you'd swear he was 4 feet tall. Really!! So all in all. Just try to come close to the degree of quality they drew out of a Conrad story yourself. They get an A+ in my class. And even Robin Williams followed Patricia Arquette's lead in stretching her capabilities to the MAX. His insane anarchist was so creepily 1899 it was uncanny. Turn-of-the- century Europe was loaded with those terrorist bombers. Only Depardieu, who is normally excellent, fell short as the villainous rake who had a turn of heart out of guilt at the end. Otherwise, this translation was so adept I just love rewatching it, just to see Bob Hoskins slice that Roast Beef and eat it like a peasant cafone. Heh heh.

[–] bmosier 15 years ago

At last - someone who really appreciated the film. The lead review is so misunderstanding of the nature of a Conrad story! All the actors are magnificent including Arquette. I thought Depardieu's acting at the end was marvelous.
This is a Conrad story, after all. You have to work at it. It is not a film that leaps out and grabs you ala Bourne or 007. It has many things to say, not just one. The actors and the directing did an excellent job of bringing out the complexities of a Conrad story. The Williams character was the perfect Conrad book end.
I had seen this before but not really studied it. But I Tivo'd it off cable and got a group of literary cinema lovers together to watch it last night. We were universal in admiration after it was through, although it was odd that each of us had a different favorite excellent aspect.

[–] micaofboca-1 15 years ago

So cool, bmosier. Thanks for your remarks. It's so hard to find someone who enjoys Joseph Conrad the way we do, let alone elicit a friendly response rather than a searing attack. D'accord!

[–] 15 years ago

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[–] spiderman_iceman_andfire 12 years ago

Loved it too, Arquette has mad range and really moved me. I felt she stole the film and was the character to feel for.