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Victory - Fan Commentary

On Martin Ricardo: I feel sure he would have have been part devoted slave, part vehement protector had she accepted him. I was refering to that particular scene, when he was worshiping at her feet. He had given her his complete trust along with his weapon, but I think that had she tried to kill him, he would have reacted immediately and instinctively.

I saw him as having a strong sense of self preservation, but lacking confidence in himself. He had felt he needed a leader, someone he admired, who would make the decisions, and look after him. But I also saw him as being more calculating in his relationship with his Mister. I didn't see the need for affection as playing as large a part as his need for basic survival. I felt that it was the desire for a loving relationship in which he'd be on a more equal footing with his partner that finally made his situation with Jones intolerable. He was more clever than Jones gave him credit for being, and had more control over that relationship than Jones realized. In the end he died because he thought he could regain the upper hand. When stressed he fell right back into the groveling behavior he'd begun to hate, but that normally worked on Jones. I don't think he realized that Jones' anger inspired by his hatred of women was stronger than his own influence. This was my take on Ricardo Martin, though admittedly I only watched this movie once.

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I've always agreed that Willem Dafoe wasn't the best choice for this part, although, this time, I didn't hate him near as much as I usually do. I still think other actors could have done a better job as Hyest. Sam Neill did a fantastic job as "Mr. Jones"! He was just creepy enough and jicky enough to make Mr. Jones bad in an eeire sort of way. And of course, Ruf does an amazing job as Martin........the man-servant to Mr. Jones. Someone mentioned somewhere that Martin is like a little child, searching for someone to take care of him and accept him, even love him. Mr. Jones, does take care of him mostly, however, there isn't much "caring" or "love" in the relationship on his side at all. But I get the impression that it is that way in all of Martin's relationships.........very one-sided. Someone compared Martin to a puppy.........and he is very much like that. Practically peeing all over himself when someone pays attention to him. His insecurities are very much on the surface, and his emotions on his sleeve throughout the film. My dad used to use the phrase "he'll hunt with any man who'll have him" (talking about people that are like dogs) and I thought of that phrase several times while watching this film. Martin is perpetually a child wanting attention and love and wanting to please someone.......... ANYone! He doesn't really care who it is, or what kind of person they are........in his world, he sees them as he wants to, not as they are. He had an entire picture of Alma in his head before he ever met her. He sits down at her feet (much like a puppy) and tells her all his thoughts about her. In his world, they were two of a kind........and meant to be together. He was very willing to "dump" Mr. Jones for Alma. Even when Alma asks to see the knife, he eagerly gives it too her, like a dog bringing a bone to his master, wagging his tale, hoping for a pat on the head. I personally don't think it ever really fully sank into him that she was going to kill him. I think he ran out of fear, but more the fear of Jones than of Alma...........like a dog, he wanted both "masters" to be happy with him and he didn't know how to deal with the fact that they weren't. Martin was just just a poor waif (though a grown man physically) who wanted love and acceptance, nothing more. And the least little amount of attention would have been just fine with him. The smallest pat on the head. Even though Martin isn't necessarily a "good" person, I did feel really sorry for him...........because he wasn't completely bad either. He was wounded and damaged, not evil. And Rufus pulled that off impeccably!

MCR5137~

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