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Post by GreenEyesToo on Dec 16, 2009 0:04:34 GMT
Oh, I know - that's why my video is even poorer quality now!  |
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Post by evngrnreyes on Dec 28, 2009 1:02:58 GMT
I finally watched this movie. If it wasn't for Sam Neill and Rufus I wouldn't have made it past the first 10 min. I
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Post by evngrnreyes on Dec 28, 2009 1:10:15 GMT
(Rest of my post) loved all the Rufus scenes. He looked gorgeous in this movie but I loved the character he played even more than the way he looked. Rufus never fails to amaze me with his talent. I still wonder where he "pulls" these characters from. That's so fascinating to me. Great reviews of this movie. I'll watch this again and again just for the Rufus scenes.
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Post by rufluvr on Dec 28, 2009 23:47:40 GMT
Boy, it's been a while since I've watched "Victory". Defoe gave a less than stellar performance--but what bothered me most was that I didn't care for Sam Neil's performance that much either  (and I usually like his acting) Rufus was a perfect poor pathetic creepoid. So sad and funny how his character thought he "connected" with the girl. As usual, Rufus made the most of his role which greatly helped the watchability of this lackluster movie. When I think of this movie, well, it's a silly thing, but, when I think of "Victory" I remember it was the first movie that I really took notice of how beautiful Rufus' HANDS were. In that scene where he is helping her with her shoe...oohh what a nice hand shot--hahaha. If I ever get around to figuring out/doing a screencap for ruf luvr on here I'll do an artsy shot from that scene. |
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Post by francesca on Jan 6, 2010 15:36:37 GMT
I was wallowing in self pity with an awful cold yesterday when I watched this, so maybe my judgement was not so sharp as it could have been but I quite liked this film and of course Rufus's performance was as you expect from him with avenue explored.
My first reaction to Martin was " he 's a psycho " which he was of course but as the film went on I began to see his character opening out more and to see the causes behind the apparent obnoxiousness.how he and Alma were 2 sides of the same coin both crushed by their situation in life .
how grinding poverty, degradation and unscrupulous men turned Martin into a mentally sick, frightened, sexually abused young man terrified of the the man who "owned " him, desperate to escape.
Yep Roofie can make you see vulnerability and something to like in every character he plays .
Well Done Rufus!!! You Played a blinder.
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bluehorse
Roo-kie
"I did not know how empty I was"
Posts: 95
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Post by bluehorse on May 7, 2010 20:36:33 GMT
Yesterday I finally got my Victory DVD and my first impression was:
Rufus was the only living being in this film.
And: once again he looked simply gorgeous and was acting gorgeously (but that is nothing new).
Today I watched it again and only then read through this thread.
As usual, your reviews are so excellent that there's not much to add. I particularly agree with Francesca. Without reading her comment it was exactly the same thought I had. Alma and Martin are somehow different sides of the same fate. She had been rescued and Martin desperately thought/hoped Alma would be his rescue. Tired of crawling on his belly, his excitement about his possible escape from his misery made him tremble all over (while Alma stayed a Zombie even after her rescue).
Never saw him tremble like this in any other movie. It was excitement about the woman in front of him which he thought would be his. But it was also the excitement of a captured wild animal which hopes it is going to be freed.
Maybe I'm wrong, but I have never seen such a "physical" performance of a Rufus "bad guy" before.
OK, there were also his huge eyes, as usual, his face beautiful even when so terribly burnt from the sun, his wonderful hands. Things he always uses in such a subtle way to give live to his characters.
But here I felt he used his whole body, more than in any other role I can remember. Trembling and shaking, as I said before, from excitement and impatience.
And in general, in many scenes he seemed like a wild cat to me. When he jumps or runs, he seems lighter than a feather and yet always so tense like a wild cat on the jump, moving so smoothly, elegantly and yet almost bursting from sheer despair.
While many of the other characters seemed zombies or sleep walking to me (especially Alma), he seemed so ALIVE, not for a second the same expression on his face.
One of the scenes I liked the most (besides the one where he plays with his shoe) is when he looks up to Heyst from the boat, after he hit the monkey like type on the head... er... forgot his name.
That boyish smile, apologizing for his ferocity, this childish and so deeply innocent gesture... incredible, how he got that expression on his face in a split second.
I noticed in other films, that somehow his facial expressions change so fast that it is hard to catch them even in slow motion.
All in all I found this "bad guy" the most convincing character of the whole movie and probably his best "bad guy". And as in all other "bad guy" roles, he can be as disturbed and mad as one can be, you still have to like the character. Because you can understand how he got like this, even though so little is explained about him, it is enough to make it completely clear why he is as he is (which in some other bad guy roles is not so clear).
Don't know how he does it, but he always makes me feel so sorry for a bad guy which normally I would hate, if someone else was the actor... and I know, that I'm not alone, reading your reviews.
I truly think that it is NOT just Rufusitis which makes us like his bad guys so much.
It is his acting!!!!
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Post by tipou on May 8, 2010 13:11:18 GMT
RUFUS IS A GREAT ACTOR.
let it be said, and let this performance prove the point.
as you said, not much is said about martin, but the actor portraying him tells us all.
you could write a bio, almost.
very physical, as you said, not in the "rambo" sense, but in a complete total of intimate details that convinces you the actor totally "got" the character and inhabited him like a ghost. or, as you said, a wild cat. i totally loved the comparison, very to the point.
i adore sam neill, and i thought his work was top notch also, not easy picturing such a villain with so much retenue. and if he too seemed a bit "phased", at least he had an excuse: the dope!
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Post by kygal on May 8, 2010 13:49:30 GMT
I continue to be amazed at his portrayal of such characters. I find myself "enjoying" and having sympathy for characters I would normally not.
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bluehorse
Roo-kie
"I did not know how empty I was"
Posts: 95
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Post by bluehorse on May 8, 2010 17:30:48 GMT
Yep tipou, I will never get tired to read lines likes this: RUFUS IS A GREAT ACTOR. BTW i read some reviews on amazon where Rufus's outstanding performance is particularly mentioned. Don't know if they all were Rufans? And yes, I did not mean "physical" in a Rambo way, not at all. The contrary. Just like a cat. A wild cat, a mistreated cat, a mad cat. OMG writing this, I'm afraid I'll have to watch it again. Just to see him jump up to the terrace of Heyst house or down from the roof and to see him tremble  |
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Post by rueful on Jul 31, 2010 12:22:23 GMT
This was Frannie's lost post from Victory, which was movie of the week recently. Sorry, hers was the only new one left in the google cache. Any later posts were lost:
Francesca
Re: Victory
« Reply #54 Yesterday at 8:42pm »
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I reviewed this before so after watching it as "Movie of the Week " I re-read what I had written to see I still thought the same.
I do!
This is a good film with some flaws , the principal is Willem Dafoe's performance as Heyst. Heyst was dead to emotion ,Dafoe was wooden , not the same.
The atmospherics were good from the beginning ,corrupt, decadent, evil, skincrawlingly so.
The power of the moneyed people over the poor , from the hotelkeeper over his wife , to Heyst over Alma (YES!!) and Neil ( can't remember his name ) over Martin may seem a little incomprehensible to us these days but seems so evocative of the beginning of the last century.
Irene Jacob's Alma ... going through the motions yet her eyes so dead even after her " rescue" by Heyst.
Sam Neill's evil homosexual drug addict , his slitted, snake like eyes with their flickers of insanity.
Rufus's Martin , beautiful, corrupt, driven crazy, desperate to escape from his sexual abuse , yet terrified of returning to grinding poverty.terrified too of his master.
His leaps and jumps, swift violence and tremblings were exactly like a tormented caged wild cat as Bluehorse said .
An amazing performance from one who was still quite young.
This film, like "Vinyan", is not one to be "enjoyed " but if you want to see brilliant actors at the height of their powers , this is one to watch.
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Post by sewellme on Jan 14, 2011 23:20:11 GMT
I just finished watching this one, I'd definetely watch it again for 2 reasons: Rufus and home. From all of his movies, I think his eyes gave the best performance in here, they always looked like they've been washed by windex, just gleamy.....the scene with him and Sam sitting on the delman/horse buggy, I'd never forget that look. He's good at making you having emphaty for even the most twisted character, making you feel that somehow you'd mend the child's behaviour and he'd make a good person one day, except well, he died before it happened. I saw a little bit of Seth and Ross' body language on the boat scene that always cracked me up, it's his way putting a bit of him in those characters I guess......sort of a signature?? This movie also made me homesick, when Dafoe at one scene and the extras at another were speaking in the traditional Javanese language, I realized how much I miss my friends. Surabaya (East Java) in the movie was portrayed for 1913, now all you see are arcades and pollutions but there are greener part of it just like in the movie, they still have the horsebuggy, people wearing traditional clothing and the traditional harbour except the chinese people don't wear their hair like that shaolin style anymore, only my great grandparents ;D ;D.... I think his acting on this man-boy whackiness is the charm of this movie, funny how I've never seen this one in the past because I'd get Rufusitis long before. I'd watch this again? yes......to see what Ruf is capable of and just to go down the memory lane well....for a pair of gleamies too!!! |
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Post by anyother on Jan 15, 2011 17:47:07 GMT
I just ordered Victory... and now I can't wait to see it!
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Post by VictoryGirl on Jan 16, 2011 15:47:02 GMT
Funny that the only person who named her after this movie didn't write her feedback...
shame on me!
My thoughts after seeing victory:
"Meeting a very strange, but gorgeous fellow, who's sometimes brutal, but would
care if you are in danger and would help and love you! How can't you care about
him? My feelings went crazy and in the end I have to say, I like Martin Ricardo."
For me this is one of his best performances, I mean in every movie he was and is
great, but in this one he was fantastic.
I think it's very difficult to play a character like Martin without overplaying it,
but knowing Rufus as a good actor it was not a big surprise that he'll handle
this perfectly.
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Post by sewellme on Jan 16, 2011 16:25:45 GMT
Funny that the only person who named her after this movie didn't write her feedback... shame on me! My thoughts after seeing victory: "Meeting a very strange, but gorgeous fellow, who's sometimes brutal, but would care if you are in danger and would help and love you! How can't you care about him? My feelings went crazy and in the end I have to say, I like Martin Ricardo." For me this is one of his best performances, I mean in every movie he was and is great, but in this one he was fantastic. I think it's very difficult to play a character like Martin without overplaying it, but knowing Rufus as a good actor it was not a big surprise that he'll handle this perfectly. LOL, VG.....I actually was looking for your post in this thread before writing mine and sort of having disbelieve that I could't find you??? My thought was this one must be so immensed for you that words can't pour out but "Victory Girl" says it all  |
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Post by VictoryGirl on Jan 16, 2011 17:08:45 GMT
Exactly |
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(and I usually like his acting) Rufus was a perfect poor pathetic creepoid. So sad and funny how his character thought he "connected" with the girl. As usual, Rufus made the most of his role which greatly helped the watchability of this lackluster movie. When I think of this movie, well, it's a silly thing, but, when I think of "Victory" I remember it was the first movie that I really took notice of how beautiful Rufus' HANDS were. In that scene where he is helping her with her shoe...oohh what a nice hand shot--hahaha. If I ever get around to figuring out/doing a screencap for ruf luvr on here I'll do an artsy shot from that scene. 
