Review of Almayer's Folly

After the rigorous and haunting 'La Captive' which was sourced in Proust, Akerman turns to Conrad with similarly mesmeric effect. This movie, set in somewhere around Malaysia, is about a European trader's troubled relationship with his mixed-blood daughter (who is everything to him, besides money perhaps). I love everything about this movie - the cinematography, the theatrical tone, Stanislas Merhar's rage-filled performance. I have to mention the seemingly interminable final sequence in which the camera is focused on the face of the protagonist sitting in a somewhat dark room. I can't forget the dejected expression on his face and his ghostly eyelids fluttering. The sunlight gradually illuminates his whole face and he complains - 'The sun feels cold.'