Victory (1982)

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Harold Pinter

Film screenplay

English

Pinter's adaptation of Joseph Conrad's novel of the same name. Conrad's last major novel tells the story of a Swedish baron who seeks solitude in the Dutch East Indies. He is brought back into the world, however, when he becomes involved in the life of the young English girl he rescues-only to find himself in a deadly duel with her exploiter.

The screenplay was never filmed. After Pinter's death, it was adapted for radio and broadcast in 2015.

Date of Composition: 17 April 1982 - 24 November 1982

Adapted From: Victory (1915)

Adapted Work Note: Pinter wrote of the screenplay: 'I worked on the script of Victory with Richard Lester. I had found Joseph Conrad's book immensely powerful, with a very rich collection of characters. I was also excited to write a film based in East Asia in 1900. But the American production company did not share my enthusiasm. They decided that "period" films cost too much money, particularly when they dealt with Conradian moral complexities, so they withdrew. This screenplay has never been shot, although another film of the book was made a few years ago.'

Linked Works

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Linked Places

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Publishers

Faber and Faber Ltd on (2000)

Collected Screenplays Volume 2

Characters

Antonio (Age: Unknown, Male)

Chang (Age: Unknown, Male)

Davidson (Age: Unknown, Male)

Heyst (Age: Unknown, Male)

Jones (Age: Unknown, Male)

Lena (Age: Unknown, Female)

Mrs Schomberg (Age: Unknown, Female)

Mrs Zangiacomo (Age: Unknown, Female)

Pedro (Age: Unknown, Male)

Ricardo (Age: Unknown, Male)

Schomberg (Age: Unknown, Male)

Servant (Age: Unknown, Male)

Zangiacomo (Age: Unknown, Male)

Woman (1) (Victory) (Age: Unknown, Female)

Woman (2) (Victory) (Age: Unknown, Female)

Resources

No resources have been added to this work record yet.

Sources

Sharp Cut: Harold Pinter's Screenplays and the Artistic Process

Steven H. Gale, Harold Pinter's Screenplays and the Artistic Process (Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 2003)

Academic book

Contains chapters on each of Harold Pinter's filmed screenplays and includes a bibliography of reviews of films up to 1999. Adaptation note quoted on page 273.

Harold Pinter Appointments Diary, 1982

The British Library Modern Manuscripts, The Harold Pinter Archive Add MS 88880/12/15, no ff

Library archive

Start date for work on the screenplay adaptation..

Harold Pinter Official Website.

http://www.haroldpinter.org/films/films_victory.shtml

URL

Summary and adapted note sourced from here.