James Hitchcock
Michel de Nostredame, generally known as Nostradamus, was a sixteenth-century French physician, but is better known today as a reputed prophet and seer. His fame rests on a series of gnomic quatrains which, it has been claimed, contain predictions of future world events, including wars, political changes and natural disasters. The problem is that his quatrains are written in a language so obscure that they can be interpreted to mean virtually anything. Those who seek to interpret them generally do so with the benefit of hindsight, seeking to prove that Nostradamus predicted World War II, the atomic bomb, 9/11 or whatever; those seeking to use his works to foretell events which have not yet happened tend to come badly unstuck. Even when a particular quatrain can be "proven" to have predicted a particular event, this is normally done with the help of some creative rewriting or creative mistranslating of his words. (Anyone with any knowledge of the French of the period can find some spectacular examples of this on the internet, particularly those interpretations which try to prove that by "Hister"- a Classical name for the River Danube- Nostradamus meant "Hitler").The obscurity of Nostradamus' prophecies was quite deliberate; had he clearly and unambiguously foretold specific events which then failed to occur, his reputation as a seer would have been destroyed for ever. The film, however, would have us believe that he deliberately obscured his meaning in order to ward off the attentions of the Church, although in the sixteenth century attempts to foretell the future were not forbidden and, indeed, astrology was regarded as an intellectually respectable, and theologically permissible, science.As might be clear from my opening paragraph, I personally do not believe that Nostradamus possessed a supernatural power to foretell the future. (Indeed, I do not believe that any human being possesses or has possessed such a power). In the original French, his verses have a certain surrealist inventiveness, but I have never seen any reason to attribute any other significance to them. This film, however, is quite openly made on the assumption that its hero did indeed possess prophetic gifts; I was left with the definite feeling that Roger Christian was asking me to accept that Nostradamus really was a man tormented by horrifying visions of the future and whose prophecies were intended as warnings to mankind of the fate that awaited them.Now I normally leave my scepticism about the supernatural at the cinema door; I have never, for example, allowed the fact that I do not believe in witchcraft to prevent me from enjoying the Harry Potter films. Suspension of disbelief, however, is something I find easier to accomplish in the context of a wholly fictional story than in the context of a biography of a real individual. Neither J K Rowling nor the makers of the "Potter" films are, after all, asking me to accept that witchcraft has any existence outside the realm of fiction, but when a film-maker asks me to give credence to the writings of a sixteenth-century charlatan I find it difficult to take his film seriously."Nostradamus" has other weaknesses, quite apart from its flawed central premise. Unlike many period dramas, this one is not particularly visually attractive, with dull, muddy colours. The action is slow-moving and at times difficult to follow. I understand that Tchéky Karyo is a well-known and respected actor in France, indeed the winner of a Cesar Award, so I presume that he can act in his own language far better than he can in English. (I have never seen any of his French-language movies apart from "Le Retour de Martin Guerre", in which he only had a small part). In the leading role here he is absolutely horrible, dull and wooden without any convincing attempt to convey emotions. Some of the supporting cast are better, including Julia Ormond as Nostradamus' wife, although I was left with the feeling that F. Murray Abraham had come down a long way since "Amadeus" and Rutger Hauer equally far since "Blade Runner". This was the first of Roger Christian's films I have seen, and I cannot say that it has inspired me with any great desire to explore his work further. 4/10
jimg-9
First of all this Tcahcky Tabacky or whatever his name is is one of the worst actors ever. He couldn't emote is way out of a wet paper bag. The casting is ludicrous. Rutger Hauer and F Murray Abraham in the same movie? PUHLEASE! And Amanda Plummer as the Queen of England? It is to LAFF! Also laughable are the soft-porn scenes that seem to pop up every time the story starts to drag. Although the women are (kinda) beautiful , and we get to see lots of T & A, the sight of Nastydumass' naked butt is shown once too often. And he's SO somber when he gets busy,, he must be having visions of his future veneral diseases. Don't waste the $1 it will cost you to rent this one.
kynoceph
Most Nostradamus movies have him as an older man, a gloomy sort constantly predicting doom. This movie doesn't. Tcheky Karyo plays a very involved, interesting, and engaging version of Michel de Nostredame. I particularly liked the "vision" sequences, where he suddenly is dropped into the future to observe. I thought the part of the movie where he is confronted by the Inquisition was effective as well. The movie is flawed; it moves slowly, and finicky history buffs will find a few bumps. But overall this features a fine performance by Tcheky Karyo, beautiful photography and sets, and (I have to say) a sex scene with Julia Ormond that manages to be really hot and very tasteful at the same time. Summing up, "Nostradamus" has some strong performances, and a good (if slow) story. It kept my interest all the way through. I'm looking forward to getting it on DVD.
moviewiz-4
I watched this movie in 1998 and would like to know whether this movie told exactly about his life. Although i never read the prophecy of Nostradamus but i am amazed that he can know that there will be three world war. The fact is there were two already and the third one, we still can't judge it by ourselves. What i have to say is an excellent movie with huge casts and it has been narrated carefully by the writer and producer. Why not a remake? Will that be better?
