PBS's "Mobil Masterpiece Theatre" turns Joseph Conrad's little-read 1904 novel "Nostromo" into a three-night miniseries. It is an international co-production that makes its debut here even before it is broadcast in England, where most "Masterpiece" stories originate. [...]

Italian actor Claudio Amendola plays the title role, with Colin Firth, Albert Finney, Serena Scott Thom-as, Claudia Cardinale
and Brian Dennehy.

[It is] a tale of societal conflict and greed, told through the story of a poor Latin American country thrown into turbulence when outsiders - in this case, British and American - step in.

There is a lot going on in "Nostromo" - some viewers may find it difficult to follow as the action moves between the settings and characters - and there's a large, international cast to play the many colourful roles. Their acting styles vary from subdued, in the case of Firth, to melodramatic, in the case of actors playing revolutionaries; dubbing is used for some of the minor parts.

Firth plays Charles Gould, who with his wife, Emilia (Scott Thomas) arrives in the fictional country of Costaguana, planning to open his late father's silver mine with the backing of an American tycoon, Joshua Holroyd (Dennehy).

Several people stand to become very wealthy, but at least one observer — the local physician — sees that the silver will corrupt. He is right: The country is torn apart by rival warlords who hope to seize the riches as well as the government.

In such a setting, few can be trusted. But one man is thought incorruptible: Giovanni Battista Fidanza, an Italian who is chief of
dock workers in the port town of Sulaco. The patronizing British call him Nostromo ("nostro uomo" -- "our man"). In an author's note, Conrad called him "a man with the weight of countless generations behind him and no parentage to boast of... like the People."

But the lust in this story is for riches, not romance, even though Nostromo has promised Dona Teresa (Cardinale) that he will marry one of her daughters and take care of the other, and even though lovely Emilia Gould is often alone, thanks to her work-obsessed husband.
[...]
 

His relationship with Livia Giuggioli. a ravishing 22-year-old in her final year at Rome University, began during the six months he spent in Colombia, with co-stars Albert Finney, Claudia Cardinale and Serena Scott-Thomas, filming Nostromo. She was working as assistant to the producer, Fernando Ghia, and is remembered as 'a lovely girl and extremely bright' by executive producer, Michael Wearing. 'Their relationship flowered slowly and it was delightful to see.'

Firth certainly needed cheering up in Colombia: 'First of all, there was 100 per cent humidity, which meant your shirt was soaked within minutes, and I was wearing a suit, waistcoat and stiff collar as well. Then there were language problems to contend with, plus very greedy and corrupt authorities. Also, we were filming in terribly poverty-stricken areas, where we would be given food and children would hang around waiting for what we put in the bin. It was very difficult and exhausting,
and a little bit threatening.'
Firth plays Englishman Charles Gould who arrives in a corrupt South American dictatorship with his beautiful young bride (Scott-Thomas), determined to work the silver mine left to him by his murdered father. Despite his initial passion for his wife, Gould proves willing to sacrifice everything, even his marriage, to his obsession over the mine. 'He becomes more and more closed as the story progresses,' Firth says. 'It's the reverse of Mr Darcy's process, really.'

For someone who describes himself as a method actor, he is refreshingly down-to-earth in talking about his craft. 'I do an awful
lot of work on what's going on inside the character,' he says. 'There's tremendous amount to suggest beyond words. The unhealthy nature of Charles Gould's obsession is very difficult to understand. The book is virtually unreadable: I only managed to finish it through sheer stubbornness and Conrad certainly doesn't define his characters in a way that's easy for us to comprehend.'
[...]

[...] He was in Italy when his mum phoned him with the news that Darcy fever was sweeping the nation, hoiking him up the league table in leading males. The glad tidings must have been a comfort after the BBC's Nostromo shoot in Columbia: beset by corruption, riot, a nearby murder, shooting, illness and miscellaneous gremlinry, it was as if the ructions in Conrad's masterpiece had seeped out onto the set. Firth found the location "very interesting for the first couple of months ", but after three more didn't come away "with a huge fondness for the place". 

He plays Charles Gould, an Englishman who takes his porcelain bride to a fictional South American republic called Costaguana, to re-open a silver mine which has fallen into neglect since his father's murder by the natives. Gradually as Gould's obsession with the plainly symbolic mine and its buried treasures intensifies, the marriage falls victim to his metaphorical infidelity.

The novel is famously irreducible - "I was almost resentful of how difficult it was to get through it." he says - but for Firth the lead role basically came down to another study in humourlessness and withdrawal, another furtively disturbed Englishman. So why play it? 
"It was curiosity. I felt that there was an awful lot more to Gould than met the eye. I found myself in the strange position of doubting what Conrad said about him - that the character had no sense of irony - and I wondered whether that was a foreigner's perception of an Englishman. It would be quite possible for a man like Gould to have a very strong sense of irony and for it to be invisible to somebody from Poland." 

On a less cerebral level, he was attracted by the horse-riding, the explosions and the steamship - "a boy's own instinct to go out on the big adventure, a childhood sense of why I wanted to be an actor.  [...]

Full article at meluchie's "Friends of Firth Scrap Book"
 

The last time Colin Firth starred in a costume drama, millions of women swooned at his dashing Mr Darcy in Pride and Prejudice. Whether fans will find him quite as charming in BBC2's epic new adventure, Nostromo, however, is another matter.

The four-part series, beginning this week, was filmed in the sweltering heat of Colombia in South America. 'Being there was an extraordinary experience,' says Colin, who had an assistant to supply him with water to prevent dehydration. 'When you are away from home in such a place, the heat and tropical sensibilities add to the weird and wonderful mix.'

Based on the 1904 novel by author Joseph Conrad, Nostromo is set in the fictional country of Costaguana at the turn of the century. Colin plays Charles Gould, the owner of a silver mine, who is set to make a fortune from his valuable hoard.
'I liked the challenge of getting to the heart of Charles,' explains 36-year-old Colin. 'He isn't very expressive but you know there are a million complex emotions bubbling under the surface. I enjoy twisted characters. Playing heroes isn't my strong point.'

When revolution erupts and both sides seek to obtain the silver for themselves, Charles is forced to seek help from Nostromo, a daring dock worker. But though Nostromo puts to sea with the precious metal to stop it falling into their hands, he is unaware that the silver has a curse which will change his life for ever. 
At times, it seemed that the silver's curse afflicted the film crew as well. The five months spent on location were fraught with difficulties. Expensive sets  were washed away by rainstorms, the director collapsed through exhaustion and co-star Serena Scott Thomas, who plays Charles's wife Emilia, suffered nausea after being attacked by bugs.
But despite the many mishaps, Colin is convinced the venture will prove riveting viewing. 'I love all that stuff with huge battle scenes and lots of guns,' he laughs. 'I got swept away by the chivalry and high adventure.'

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But the memories [ of Darcy] will draw viewers to his latest role in a more demanding and unusually brave TV event - a four-part adaptation of Joseph Conrad's Nostromo with an international cast including Albert Finney (in yet another brilliant impression of a drunk) and Claudia Cardinale. It is an ambitious opus, filmed during five months on location in Colombia, which defeated several would-be adaptors in the past. "It's easy to understand why," says Firth. "The thought [has] never been far from my mind that we'll be the ones prove them correct. Its not light material; an Everest for me to read because there's a heaviness to
the writing and no accessible sense of humour, but worth it because I was haunted by the book afterwards and still am."

He plays Charles Gould, a young Englishman who arrives in mythical, turbulent South American country of Costaguana wit his beautiful bride (Serena Scott Thomas) to reopen a silver mill discovered by his deceased father, Ernest. In the book Ernest dies through the exhaustion of coping with corruption. In the TV version he is assassinated during a revolution. "We simplify, in order to make a drama," he explains. "He implored Charles never to come to Costaguana, but he had to prove he was strong where his father was weak. That is a common motivation for sons, but I didn't understand Charles at first. He doesn't have the
normal, identifiable vulgar motives which drive an industrialist - glory, wealth and power.

"I tried to discover what it is in me that identifies with him. I've been obsessed enough with work to throw myself headlong into it at the expense of anything else, but I came to the conclusion he had a rather warped romantic dream, quite contrary to his wife's belief that he was rigorously practical and unsentimental. I had doubts about the part, but took it because I wanted to find out more about him. It was a huge curiosity. I knew going to Colombia for so long would be a life-changing experience, and it certainly was. [...]"

Charles Gould is one of three new parts that illustrate his versatility.
[...]

Full article at meluchie's "Friends of Firth Scrap Book"