L'avventuriero

The movie "L'avventuriero" failed to achieve the expected success. Critics argue that the film adaptation falls short in making the human conflicts believable, resulting in an adventure story that fails to captivate the viewer. The plot loses its way throughout the movie, making the pacing tedious. However, some cinephiles may appreciate the melancholic ending as perhaps poetic.

There are two noteworthy aspects: 1) The music composed by the renowned Ennio Morricone (1928-2020); 2) The Italian actress Rossana Schiaffino (1939-2009), who compensates for the lack of dramatic resources with the beauty of her face.

Conrad, Quinn, Young, Hayworth (plus Johnson and Dawson) and Schiaffino. Excellent photography, good locations. But ...

The early scenes were promising, but when Quinn reached the all-but- deserted village the film started to drag and never picked up pace.

This is a unique film on a unique novel. It is Joseph Conrad's only historical novel and it was the last novel he completed. It is a Napoleonic novel, but the main story here is not about political intrigue and rivalry between French and British interests, that's only the superficial frame of a much more interesting relationship of an old man coming home with the sea, which he has been roaming for 30 years and now seems to definitely leave behind. But political pettiness and shortsightedness intervene and directs his destiny off course into a very unintended direction. It's a psychological investigation of destiny and its always unfathomable ways in interfering with man's intentions. Anthony Quinn makes a fantastic performance of a very melancholy puppet in the hands of an incalculable destiny, and Rita Hayworth is surprisingly good as an experienced woman trying to sedcure him in reality. Richard Johnson is perfect as the French naval officer navigating the political adventure, and they actually all fail in their purposes, which makes even this historical novel very typical of Joseph Conrad. Ennio Morricone has furnished the film with one of his finest film scores, and the natural settings are overwhelmingly beautiful. This is above all a very beautiful film and as such a rare gem in the treasury of Terence Young's vast and very diversified production.

Anthony Quinn is ready and able, but he has nothing to do in THE ROVER, an alternately boring and confusing adaptation of the novel. You won't care what happens to him or anyone else in the movie. Movie has a beautiful score by Ennio Morricone, but it seems to have been made for a totally different movie, with the music frequently inappropriate for the scenes it plays in

Anthony Quinn and Rita Hayworth give us their usual excellent level of acting, and Rosanna Schiaffino as Arlette is wonderful. The script has some holes but that is more than made up by the wonderful performances of the actors and the beautiful locations. A sometimes underrated movie that is quite engrossing.

Anthony Quinn plays a pawn in a Napoleonic game of world chess. The high seas action is sometimes overshadowed by his relationships on shore and both make for captivating viewing.

I would recommend this movie.