Heart Of Darkness

Nicolas Roeg, a director with a solid track record with the darker side of the human soul, one would assume, would be a good choice to bring Joseph Conrad's famous story to the screen - even if in the case of this telemovie, a small one. It has however been a long time since he has made a film of real interest and this is no exception.

Heart Of Darkness is descriptively faithful to the original story but sorely lacking in atmosphere and affect. A mis-cast Tim Roth as Marlowe doesn't help but Roeg, despite lots of forebodings from colonialist types, spooky masked figures and misty jungle silences fails to convincingly communicate the burgeoning madness as the main character ascends the river in search of Kurtz. Although no doubt working with limited resources Roeg presumably had only himself to blame as he could hardly been unaware of not only Coppola's Apocalypse Now (1979) but also Werner Herzog's Fitzcarraldo (1982) which are excellent points of reference for his subject matter and to both of which he comes nowhere close to being as effective.

Conrad's novella has been recognized as difficult to adapt, largely because the figure of Kurtz is more of a cipher than a flesh and blood character (predictably enough Orson Welles was interested in tackling it but never did). Brando and Coppola got it right by leaving him a half-lit oracular presence but here Roeg and screen adapter Benedict Fitzgerald have John Malkovich playing him like a drag queen with a Gloria Swanson fixation, which if you like Malkovich is fun but, like the film in general, never comes close to dramatically suggesting an encounter with the heart of spiritual darkness.

 

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