![]() ![]() Who really cracked the case?Īs shown in the series, the tenacious Knippenberg and his wife Angela Kane, who later became a high-ranking United Nations official, were indeed key to getting Sobhraj finally convicted in Nepal, 28 years after the murders of Laurent Carrière and Connie Bronzich. Twice he escaped by feigning illness and then drugging the hospital guards. ![]() He escaped from prison and hospital confinement at least four times. How many times did Sobhraj escape from prison? Director Paul Schrader was among those who tried to obtain rights to the book, he recounted on Facebook. Since his story covers so much ground, it might have been difficult to fit into a two-hour feature film. Sobhraj has tried to sell rights to his story many times, reportedly trying charge up to $15 million, but factual information is not copyrightable, so anyone can make a story around on facts in the media or from independent interviews. Nadine and Monique poolside in Bangkok in “The Serpent” BBC/© Mammoth Screen Why was the book “Serpentine” never adapted as a film or TV series? At least four documentaries have been made about his life, as well as an Indian docudrama based on his escape from the Delhi prison. “Homeland” actor Art Malik starred as Sobhraj. Are there any other movies about Sobhraj?Ī 1989 mini-series called “Shadow of the Cobra” was based on the book “The Life and Crime of Charles Sobhraj” by Richard Neville and Julie Clarke. Without social media, email or even the ability to easily phone home, it’s easy to see how the backpackers, far from their homes and cultures, could have been taken in by a friendly, sophisticated couple offering meals, parties and jobs. At the time, young travelers on the “hippie trail” in Asia were seen both by authorities and in the media as druggies or sexually permissive, and tracking down their killers wasn’t always a priority for authorities in several different countries. “The Serpent” convincingly pulls in viewers with a wealth of period detail, from impeccable ’70s threads to getting your mail at Poste Restante to the ubiquitous “apple strudel” sign on Katmandu storefronts. ![]() But the producers of “The Serpent” didn’t adapt the series from a book instead they based it on interviews that recounted the real life story of Sobhraj. The lengthy account of his crimes was a non-fiction bestseller and a useful cautionary tale about the dangers of overly-helpful “friends” offering free drinks. Young people embarking on backpacking trips in Asia in the 1970s and ’80s were sometimes cautioned to first read Thomas Thompson’s book “Serpentine,” which told the story of Sobhraj, his girlfriend Marie-Andrée Leclerc (known as “Monique”) and their seductive approach to wooing his victims. ![]()
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