Nostradamus (1994)

Director:

Roger Christian

Writers:

Piers Ashworth (story) and
Roger Christian (story) ...

Release Date:

16 September 1994 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama

Tagline:

Never before has one man seen so much of the future. Your future

Plot:

Recounts the life and loves of the physician, astrologer, and famed prognosticator; his encounters with...

Plot Keywords:

Nostradamus | Apocalypse | Prophecy | 1500s | Historical

Cast

Tchéky Karyo	...	Nostradamus
F. Murray Abraham	...	Scalinger
Rutger Hauer	...	The Mystic Monk
Amanda Plummer	...	Catherine De Medici
Julia Ormond	...	Marie
Assumpta Serna	...	Anne
Anthony Higgins	...	King Henry II
Diana Quick	...	Diane de Portier
Michael Gough	...	Jean de Remy
Maia Morgenstern	...	Helen
Magdalena Ritter	...	Sophie
Bruce Myers	...	Professor
Leon Lissek	...	Inquisitor
Michael Byrne	...	Inquisitor
Stefan Patoli	...	Inquisitor

Also Known As:

Nostradamus - Prophezeiungen des Schreckens (Germany)

Runtime:

119 min

Country:

France | UK | Germany | Romania

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Iceland:14 | Iceland:16 (video rating) | South Korea:15 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Chile:14 | Finland:K-14 | Germany:12 | Netherlands:16 | Peru:14 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Ealing Studios, Ealing, London, England, UK

Company:

Allied Entertainments Group PLC

Disappointing

Tcheky Karyo, most familiar to American audiences as Bob, the enigmatic secret agent by way of Pygmalion in Luc Besson's NIKITA, has his first English-language lead role as the 16th-century physician and prophet Michel de Nostradame, who predicted various events occurring hundreds of years into the future.

Filmed in Romania, the film is a grim, grubby depiction of the renaissance era, but seldom reaches any moments of true insight into Nostradamus' life. Instead of taking a scholarly approach required of the subject, and concentrating on the man's vision, director Roger Christian (whose claim to fame is being the art director on Ridley ScottÕs ALIEN and directing the pretty much forgetable horror flick THE SENDER) panders to the lowest common denominator by focusing on his love life, and his run-ins with pugnacious Inquisitors.

When he is shown having his prophetic visions, most of the sequences are stilted and hokey. Only one prediction sequence has any power, the vision of the Black Rain, filmed in Copsa Mica, which the National Geographic Society once branded as the most polluted city in Europe.

Academy Award Winner F. Murray Abraham (AMADEUS), called in to save the acting day, does serviceable work as Scalinger, Nostradamus' sometime mentor, and Rutger Hauer is weird and funny as the Mystic Monk. Do I hear laughs? His turn is actually quite enjoyable, with his candle-lit hat and his demolition of the loathsome flagellates.

Karyo consorts with a bevy of bold European actresses, including Julia Ormond, Maia Morgenstern (THE OAK), and Assumpta Serna (MATADOR, THE FENCING MASTER.) He makes a noble effort with his calm, cultivated, at times endearing performance but he can't carry the whole film.

The movie eventually dissipates in the scarcity of its low budget, borrowing footage (ironically enough) from ALIENS for its final sequence which depicts space travel.