"Nostromo" (1996)TV mini-series

Director:

Alastair Reid

Writers:

Joseph Conrad (novel)
John Hale (writer)

Release Date:

5 January 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot Keywords:

Fortress | Garrote | Gatling Gun | Suicide | Firing Squad

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Claudio Amendola	...	Nostromo
Paul Brooke	...	Capt. Mitchell
Lothaire Bluteau	...	Martin Decoud
Claudia Cardinale	...	Teresa Viola
Joaquim de Almeida	...	Col. Sotillo
Brian Dennehy	...	Joshua C. Holroyd
Albert Finney	...	Dr. Monygham
Colin Firth	...	Charles Gould
Roberto Escobar	...	Pedro Montero
Ruth Gabriel	...	Antonia Avellanos
Fernando Hilbeck	...	Don Jose Avellanos
Serena Scott Thomas	...	Emilia Gould
Salvatore Basile	...	Gen. Montero (as Salvo Basile)
Xavier Burbano	...	Ramirez
Emiliano Díez	...	Don Pepe
Ruben Rabasa	...	Don Ambrosio
Nelson E. Guerrero	...	Father Corbelan
John Hale	...	Sir John
Ubaldo Henriques	...	President Ribiera
Romina Mondello	...	Giselle Viola
Stefania Montorsi	...	Linda Viola
Mario E. Sanches	...	Hernandez
Michael Wearing	...	Ernest Gould
Carolina Atenzio
Magali Caicedo
Nancy Cruz
Ricardo Daza
Fiorentino Del Castillo
Freddy Howard
Alberto Martínez
Juan Carlos Marulanda
Manolo Morales
Mauricio Rodríguez
Cristóbal Vargas
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ismael 'East' Carlo	...	Gen. Barrios
Allan Corduner	...	Hirsch
Franco Fantasia
Arnoldo Foà	...	Giorgio Viola
Guillermo Gentile	...	Maggiore

Directed by
Alastair Reid

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Joseph Conrad		novel
John Hale		writer

Produced by
Fernando Ghia	....	producer
Maurizio Mattei	....	associate producer
James Ordonez	....	assistant producer
Michael Wearing	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Ennio Morricone

Cinematography by
Franco Di Giacomo

Film Editing by
Frances Parker

Production Design by
Francesco Bronzi
François de Lamothe

Art Direction by
Massimo Razzi

Costume Design by
Danilo Donati

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Simone Frattari	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Stewart Henderson	....	dialogue editor
Ben Norrington	....	sound effects editor
Marco Streccioni	....	sound engineer
Aad Wirtz	....	sound re-recording mixer

Special Effects by
Giovanni Corridori	....	special effects
Alberto Minelli	....	special effects
Franco Ragusa	....	special effects

Stunts
Angelo Ragusa	....	stunt coordinator

Camera and Electrical Department
Giovanni Canevari	....	steadicam operator
Francesco Di Giacomo	....	assistant camera
Alexander Reid	....	clapper loader

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Alma Barbieri	....	head cutter

Editorial Department
Jackie Vance	....	first assistant editor

Other crew
Emilia Costa	....	production coordinator
Livia Giuggioli	....	production assistant
Laura Julian	....	production representative: BBC
Gaia Marotta	....	production secretary
Roberto Ornaro	....	production auditor
Franco Penna	....	production accountant
Luciano Tartaglia	....	production accountant (1996)

Production Companies

• British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
• Prixit
• Radiotelevisione Italiana
• Televisión Española (TVE)
• WGBH

Special Effects

• Corridori G & A Cinematografica S.r.l.

Other Companies

• Sud Ovest Records S.r.l.  music production

Also Known As:

Joseph Conrad's Nostromo
Nostromo - Der Schatz in den Bergen (Germany)

Country:

Germany | Italy | Spain | UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Filming Locations:

Cartagena, Bolívar, Colombia

Company:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Over 5 hours of brilliant film-making: it is time it was shown again

Konrad Korzeniowski came out of Poland and from Marseille began a sailor's life on merchant ships, surviving shipwreck, pirates and all the pains and glories of an adventurous seafaring life. After 15 years of this he settled in London and began writing novels. What kind of English he picked up by crews made up of Filipinos, Galicians, Greeks, Italians, Chinese, Indonesians and so on, might be anybody's guess: however, reading his novels you find his command of English is absolute, as well as his ability to paint real characters with all the fears and hates and loves and feelings in general, together with a philosophical pattern which holds his `yarns' together, such that all his novels are considered modern classics. Among them two stand out as being among the mightiest achievements in English-language literature: Lord Jim and Nostromo.

Joseph Conrad's character `Nostromo' was an Italian working as a jetty foreman in a port in South America. Throughout more than 450 pages Conrad builds up an incredible portrait of this man, interweaving all the other characters around him. Conrad's art is to tell an adventure story but with high quality literature that has never been surpassed in this genre. It is as if he had applied the art of writers like Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky in his work, so profound he is. The novel `Nostromo' is a cathedral in English-language literature.

Fortunately, when four European TV Film companies got together, helped by a Boston station, to turn this magnificent novel into a TV series, they were up to the mark. A huge production, beautifully made, definitely worthy of the great novel. Filmed around Cartagena de las Indias, which is more or less spot on where Conrad put it, superb cinematography, excellent acting from everyone, all directed unerringly by Alistair Reid, puts this mini-series in a special category. Not since `Marco Polo' (1982) (qv) had a European production reached such magnificence. And once again, Ennio Morricone puts the final touch with his wonderful music.

Special mention for Claudio Amendola as Nostromo, and of course Lothaire Decoud, Claudia Cardinale and Albert Finney are all excellent – as is the rest of the cast. But in this great work nothing was done by halves: BBC, RAI and TVE have combined to give all the authenticity of the novel's multi-racial setting.

`Nostromo' sits in pride of place in my video collection.