Sandokan
Sandokan | |
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Sandokan and Marianna "the pearl of Labuan" on the cover of the novel The tigers of Mompracem, Alberto Della Valle 1900 | |
Created by | Emilio Salgari |
Portrayed by | Kabir Bedi, Steve Reeves |
Information | |
Aliases | The Tiger of Malaysia |
Gender | Male |
Occupation | Pirate, Warrior |
Spouse(s) | Marianna Guillonk |
Nationality | Bornean |
Sandokan is a fictional pirate of the late 19th century, who first appeared in publication in 1883, created by Italian author Emilio Salgari. He is the protagonist of eleven adventure novels and is known throughout the South China Sea as "The Tiger of Malaysia".[1]
Sandokan novels
Emilio Salgari wrote several novels chronicling the adventures of Sandokan and Yanez, two of his most legendary creations. The pirates are introduced in The Tigers of Mompracem, which portrays their relentless struggle against the Dutch and British powers that seek to wipe them out. In subsequent novels they battle against James Brooke, the Raja of Sarawak and also travel to India to measure themselves against the Thugs, a notorious band of stranglers devoted to the goddess Kali.
The titles in the series are:
- The Mystery of the Black Jungle (I Misteri della Jungla Nera, 1895)
- The Pirates of Malaysia (I Pirati della Malesia, 1896)
- The Tigers of Mompracem (Le Tigri di Mompracem, 1900)
- The Two Tigers (Le due Tigri, 1904)
- The King of the Sea (Il Re del Mare, 1906)
- Quest for a Throne (Alla conquista di un impero, 1907)
- The Reckoning (Sandokan alla riscossa, 1907)
- Return to Mompracem (La riconquista del Mompracem, 1908)
- The Brahman (Il Bramino dell'Assam, 1911)
- An Empire Crumbles (La caduta di un impero, 1911)
- Yanez' Revenge (La rivincita di Yanez, 1913)
The last two titles were published posthumously.
There were also several other Sandokan titles published by Italian authors Luigi Motta, Emilio Fancelli and Salgari's son Omar.
Paco Ignacio Taibo II has written a modern Sandokan novel called The Return of the Tigers of Malaysia.
Characters
- Sandokan, The Tiger of Malaysia. A Bornean prince turned pirate.
- Yanez, Sandokan's loyal friend and comrade. Portuguese, Goan.
- Tremal-Naik: Indian, from Bengal.
- Kammammuri: Tremal-Naik's servant.
- James Brooke: the White Rajah of Sarawak, their worst enemy. English.
- Marianna (Lady Marianna Guillonk), also known as The Pearl of Labuan, Sandokan's wife. English.
Films
The first Sandokan films were made in 1941 Italy with Luigi Pavese as Sandokan
- Pirates of Malaya / I pirati della Malesia (Enrico Guazzoni)
- Le due tigri / The Two Tigers (Giorgio Simonelli)
A series of Italian-made films with American leads were filmed in 1964 and released internationally.
- Sandokan the Great (Sandokan, la tigre di Mompracem) (1964), starring Steve Reeves (Umberto Lenzi)
- Sandokan - The Pirate of Malaysia (I pirati della Malesia) (1964) aka Pirates of the Seven Seas, starring Steve Reeves (Umberto Lenzi)
- Sandokan Fights Back (Sandokan alla riscossa) (1964) aka Sandokan To The Rescue, starring Ray Danton (Luigi Capuano)
- Return of Sandokan (Sandokan contro il leopardo di Sarawak) (1964) starring Ray Danton (Luigi Capuano)
A pair of Italian films featuring a character named "Sandok" were filmed based on the character by Salgari
- Sandok, il Maciste della giungla with Mimmo Palmara as Sandok (1964) (Umberto Lenzi)
- Sandok AKA La montagna di luce with Richard Harrison (1965) (Umberto Lenzi)
TV miniseries
In 1976, Indian actor Kabir Bedi played the lead in Sandokan, a six-part miniseries for European television directed by Sergio Sollima. Carole André was cast as Lady Marianna Guillonk, Philippe Leroy played Sandokan's trusted friend and lieutenant Yanez de Gomera. The role of the main antagonist James Brooke was performed by Adolfo Celi.
The series included the episodes:
- The Kidnapping
- The Mysterious Prince
- The Tiger Hunt
- The Offer
- Betrayal
- The Battle
In 1977 Kabir Bedi reprised his role in the film La tigre è ancora viva: Sandokan alla riscossa! (aka The Tiger Lives Again: Sandokan To The Rescue!). The TV series theme song, Sandokan, was composed by Oliver Onions (a pseudonym of the De Angelis brothers), and made the Top 10 in many European countries, albeit mostly in the translated English version.
A 2004 documentary Sandokan's Adventure detailed the making of the series.
Animated series
Sandokan the animated series was released in 1992 by Spanish animation studio BRB International, and broadcast in the United Kingdom on Channel 4. This children's animated show, written by Doug Stone and Dave Mallow, is loosely based on Salgari's novels. In the show Sandokan (here an anthropomorphized tiger) is an usurped prince who travels the seas as a pirate seeking to reclaim his rightful throne from the Rajah of Sarawak. The first nine episodes of the series are available in three DVD volumes in the United Kingdom. An animated movie, The Princess and the Pirate, was released in 1995.
Another animated series was released in 1998 from a coproduction among RAI or Mediaset on 1993-94, Studio Sek and Mondo TV and broadcast in Italy on Italia 1. This series was composed into three parts: Sandokan, la tigre della Malesia (Sandokan, the Tiger of Malaysia, produced in 1998); Sandokan, la tigre ruggisce ancora (Sandokan, the Tiger roars again, 2000); Sandokan, il coraggio della tigre (Sandokan, the courage of the Tiger, 2004). The adventures of this 26 episode cartoon series are based on the stories of the famous Italian novelist Emilio Salgari (1862–1911). The story takes place in the second half of the 19th century, and is situated in the Malaysian archipelago, Borneo, and India. Co-produced with RAI Italy, and TF1 France, the series achieved a big success such that it a second series was decided to be produced on this character. An interactive computer game, a video special, a sticker album, along with other Merchandising articles such as books, toys, shirts, bags etc. are now available based on the series
References
- ↑ "Encyclopedia of Italian Literary Studies - Google Books". Books.google.co.uk. 2006-12-26. Retrieved 2015-04-18.
External links
- Sandokan at the Internet Movie Database
- Watch the complete Sandokan animated series from MondoTV/RAI. In English
- Watch the complete Sandokan animated TV movie from BRB Internacional
- Review of The Steve Reeves 1963 film
- Read a review of the 1960s Sandokan films
- Read the first three chapters of Sandokan: The Tigers of Mompracem
- Read a review of Sandokan: The Tigers of Mompracem
- Read a review at Pirates and Privateers
- Read an article by Italy Magazine
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