7 July 2020
Time for another review, a positive one about a historical
nautical film. If you haven’t seen “Master and Commander: the Far Side of the
World,” you should see it. That’s it; that’s the review. My excuse for not
having seen it until now despite being a former history major is the same for
my having not seen “the Patriot” or “Braveheart”: I can’t abide violence, the
kind that gratuitously lingers on knives at throats or arrows in faces.
However, the people I watched this film with were surprised I made it through,
and estimated the gore factor in “Master and Commander” to be on par with that
of “the Patriot,” so if anyone sensitive like me is interested, I hope you’ll
join me in giving scary movies their shot.
This film is set in 1805. It is a work of fiction based on
the classic novel series by Patrick O’Brian, who has been compared to Jane
Austen among other British literary figures. The Wikipedia page attempts to
assuage would-be readers’ fears of nautical terminology with a supposed
immersion effect, but I couldn’t make it five pages of one novel. Happily the
nautical jargon in the film, while explained sparingly to Stephen, isn’t
crucial to understanding the plot, given the visual medium. If you are hoping
for a historical experience, as if you had a 3rd person POV into the
lives of British navy sailors during the Napoleonic wars, this film is for you.
I watched it once alone and two days later with “M” and “B”.
I cautioned them that since they had recently been watching game shows like
Iron Chef Jr. they might find this film slow and tough to watch, and they’d
find it hard to keep track of characters. The very first comment M had was a
complaint about the silent, slow panning over the ship, its cannons and sails.
“It’s been like five minutes…do they really need that much setup?” Meanwhile I
laughed at the names carved into the cannons, which I’d missed before. For what
it’s worth, M is perfectly content to watch hours of the British Baking Show or
the many nature documentaries on Netflix, but two minutes looking at the human
ingenuity of a ship with its sails and masts and tons of wood capable of
carrying hundreds of men and cargo, is too boring for her. But on a different
day I’d have said the same…maybe she was ok with Pirates of the Caribbean
because the music fooled her into caring.
The two main characters are Jack Aubrey, the captain of the Surprise,
and Stephen Maturin, the doctor. Their friendship is tested throughout the film
when Jack first announces they will land on the Galapagos Islands to meet the Acheron,
but subsequent circumstances force Jack to abandon the islands to continue the
chase. Stephen is a naturalist who truly loves to explore, discover and invent
alongside his duties as doctor. He had been extremely excited about being the
first scientific explorer on the Galapagos Islands, and he confronts Jack on
the betrayal of his promise and his prideful chasing of the Acheron.
During the first of these scenes I saw the emotion of
Stephen as compelling and nuanced. Alone on the ship he does not fight, has
little knowledge of ships, and has no military standing, answering only to the
captain who is also his friend. His hopes are dashed directly by this one
friend; he is bitterly disappointed and angry that Jack has chosen his ongoing
hunt of the Acheron over a once in a lifetime opportunity of scientific
discovery. Jack, for his part, on some level knows he has hurt Stephen
personally, but is unwavering in pursuit of what he calls the prize. He had
been ordered to chase the French privateer as far as Brazil and has exceeded
those orders long ago, so his determination does, as Stephen puts it, “smack of
pride,” rather than the duty and obligation Jack cites as reason to leave the
islands.
I saw all this in my first view. Stephen was dressed in a
strange outfit appropriate for exploring, and maybe he came across as silly due
to it and his facial expressions, but for most of the scene M just laughed at
what seemed like a tiff, not a serious rift between the two main characters.
She continued to see the following installments in this conflict as little more
than a running gag.
I loved the scenes showcasing the culture; talks of the
legendary Lord Nelson, sea shanties, ceremonies, rituals, superstitions, and
other glimpses of how real people at the time thought, believed and behaved. M
and B did not appreciate the bug-related pun as much as I did, but then I’m a
nerd. They also became bored of the string session scenes, and disliked when
the crew and officers broke out in sea shanties, seeing no point. M appreciated
the several direct quotes and references to the Bible, but B didn’t understand
the reference to Jonah, or the prayer commending the fallen sailors to await
the resurrection from the sea.
One more difference in point of view: at one point all the
sailors sardonically salute Lieutenant H. as he passes them under the deck to
the officers’ quarters. M thought they had been successfully cowed into scared
submission by the public, ritual flogging, whereas I saw open resentment of men
using a united, pointed gesture to signal their increased dislike of a man they
believed undeserving of his position. M then saw his panic attack as caused by
guilt, and laughed when Stephen confirmed to Jack that Lt. H had no physical
ailment.
I know M to be very empathetic and kind toward the people
she serves at her job and to friends and relatives. I can only guess that this
generation’s entertainment and culture has produced a modern sensibility that
is so far removed from the struggles of our ancestors as to classify them as
alien or as characters only, sources of entertainment. The tragic irony here is
that as modern people value empathy so highly here and now, we heap criticism
and disdain without empathy on the dead.
Apparently the only character M grew fond of was the little
boy lieutenant. I don’t understand this, but I guess the sons of naval officers
or aristocrats were automatically placed on ships as apprentice officers. B was
only interested in the battles and worked for most of the film. Despite their
complaints, though, they both overall enjoyed this film, and I think it is
excellent and deserving of all its awards. If you like history at all, see it as
soon as you can. It’s not on Netflix; I got my DVD copy from a pawn shop 😊
No comments:
Post a Comment