Beyond the Epic: The Life and Films of David Lean

Epilogue: The Craftsman as Artist

Beyond฀the฀Epic 438 death.฀For฀example,฀in฀1952,฀Carol฀Reed฀filmed฀Outcast฀of฀the฀Islands,฀starring ฀Trevor฀Howard,฀and฀Peter฀O’Toole฀played฀the฀title฀role฀in฀Richard฀ Brooks’s฀Lord฀Jim฀in฀1965. As฀a฀filmmaker฀gifted฀with฀an฀epic฀touch,฀David฀Lean฀seemed฀to฀be฀the฀ right฀director฀to฀bring฀Nostromo฀to฀the฀screen.฀Nostromo฀is฀“the฀most฀panoramic ฀of฀all฀great฀novels,฀War฀and฀Peace฀alone฀excepted,”฀writes฀Harlan฀ Kennedy.3 ฀It฀is฀an฀immense,฀complex฀work,฀one฀that฀Conrad฀himself฀termed฀ his฀largest฀canvas. Nostromo฀takes฀place฀during฀a฀military฀revolution฀in฀the฀fictitious฀Latin฀ American฀republic฀of฀Costiguana,฀a฀land฀that฀has฀endured฀fifty฀years฀of฀misrule.฀ The฀title฀character,฀an฀Italian฀sailor,฀is฀assigned฀by฀the฀supporters฀of฀the฀regime฀ still฀in฀power฀to฀hide฀a฀cargo฀of฀silver฀from฀the฀San฀Tomé฀mine,฀to฀keep฀it฀out฀ of฀the฀hands฀of฀the฀rebel฀army.฀But฀Nostromo฀covertly฀steals฀the฀horde฀in฀order ฀to฀enrich฀himself.฀Conrad฀wished฀to฀portray฀the฀crisis฀of฀conscience฀that฀ someone฀who฀has฀been฀honest฀all฀his฀life฀experiences฀when฀he฀succumbs฀to฀the฀ temptation฀of฀greed.฀Indeed,฀in฀the฀end฀Nostromo฀despises฀himself฀and฀his฀ secret฀enslavement฀to฀the฀treasure,฀the฀ill-gotten฀plunder฀he฀has฀stolen. It฀was฀none฀other฀than฀Robert฀Bolt฀who฀interested฀Lean฀in฀adapting฀ Nostromo฀for฀film.฀“I฀was฀the฀first฀person฀who฀suggested฀Nostromo฀to฀him,”฀ Bolt฀remembers.฀When฀Lean฀gave฀a฀lecture฀to฀the฀Cambridge฀University฀ Film฀ Society฀ in฀ 1985,฀ some฀ of฀ the฀ students฀ said,฀ “Why฀ don’t฀ you฀ do฀ Nostromo?”฀Bolt฀concludes,฀“And฀he฀went฀and฀bought฀a฀copy.”4 Nostromo Lean฀said฀that฀he฀started฀to฀read฀the฀novel฀principally฀because฀he฀had฀“enormous ฀respect฀for฀Robert’s฀taste,”฀but฀he฀found฀it฀a฀difficult฀read.฀Not฀until฀ his฀third฀attempt฀did฀he฀get฀beyond฀the฀first฀hundred฀pages.฀“Round฀about฀ page฀170฀it฀really฀takes฀off,”฀said฀Lean.฀He฀went฀on฀to฀explain฀that฀the฀ novel฀portrays฀how฀not฀only฀Nostromo฀but฀a฀whole฀host฀of฀characters฀living฀ in฀Costiguana฀are฀corrupted฀by฀their฀lust฀for฀the฀silver.฀The฀central฀image฀of฀ Conrad’s฀story,฀then,฀is฀the฀silver฀of฀the฀San฀Tomé฀mine,฀about฀which฀the฀ plot฀turns.฀Lean฀added฀that฀he฀considered฀Nostromo฀to฀be฀“very฀modern,฀in฀ that฀it฀is฀about฀greed,”฀for฀the฀silver฀of฀the฀mine฀symbolizes฀human฀greed฀ throughout฀the฀story.5 Because฀Bolt฀and฀Lean฀had฀been฀somewhat฀estranged฀since฀they฀split฀ over฀the฀Bounty฀฀ project,฀Lean฀enlisted฀the฀playwright-screenwriter฀Christopher ฀Hampton,฀who฀had฀earlier฀composed฀a฀scenario฀for฀a฀television฀adaptation ฀of฀Nostromo฀that฀had฀gone฀unproduced.฀Lean฀contacted฀Hampton฀in฀ LeanEpilogB.indd 438 9/21/06 3:00:54 PM Epilogue 439 1986฀to฀collaborate฀with฀him฀on฀a฀script฀for฀Nostromo,฀and฀they฀labored฀on฀ the฀screenplay฀for฀a฀full฀year. With฀ the฀ first฀ draft฀ of฀ the฀ screenplay฀ completed,฀ Lean฀ asked฀ Steven฀ Spielberg฀to฀produce฀the฀movie.฀Lean฀had฀first฀met฀Spielberg฀on฀a฀transatlantic฀ flight,฀when฀Spielberg฀told฀him฀how฀impressed฀he฀was฀with฀his฀work.฀Spielberg฀ also฀offered฀to฀help฀Lean฀with฀a฀future฀project.฀“As฀far฀as฀I’m฀concerned,”฀ Spielberg฀declared,฀“you฀could฀direct฀the฀yellow฀pages฀of฀the฀phone฀book.”6 Lean฀ in฀ good฀ time฀ made฀ a฀ deal฀ whereby฀ Spielberg฀ would฀ produce฀ Nostromo฀for฀Warner฀Bros.฀for฀$30฀million.฀Lean฀gratuitously฀assumed฀that฀ Spielberg’s฀casual฀remark฀on฀the฀plane฀meant฀that,฀if฀Spielberg฀produced฀a฀ film฀for฀him,฀Lean฀would฀have฀carte฀blanche,฀with฀no฀interference฀from฀the฀ producer.฀Consequently,฀when฀Spielberg฀called฀Lean฀to฀Hollywood฀for฀a฀ preliminary฀story฀conference฀on฀February฀13,฀1987,฀Lean฀was฀startled฀to฀be฀ presented฀with฀an฀itemized฀list฀of฀revisions฀to฀be฀made฀in฀the฀script. Essentially,฀Spielberg฀felt฀that฀the฀script฀required฀clarification.฀He฀confessed ฀that฀he฀got฀confused฀in฀his฀effort฀to฀keep฀track฀of฀the฀huge฀cast฀of฀ characters.฀For฀example,฀the฀character฀of฀Charles฀Gould,฀the฀British฀owner฀of฀ the฀San฀Tomé฀silver฀mine,฀the฀individual฀from฀whom฀Nostromo฀pilfers฀the฀ silver,฀ was฀ not฀ well฀ defined.฀ “We฀ need฀ to฀ know฀ more฀ about฀ him,”฀ said฀ Spielberg.฀He฀concluded฀diplomatically,฀“Nostromo฀is฀written฀so฀well฀that฀it฀ is฀somewhat฀embarrassing฀for฀me฀to฀make฀any฀suggestions฀about฀how฀to฀ improve฀it.”7 But฀Spielberg’s฀diplomacy฀was฀wasted฀on฀Lean,฀who฀had฀become฀more฀ of฀a฀curmudgeon฀with฀the฀years.฀On฀his฀return฀to฀London,฀Lean...