I've watched this film probably close to ten times now since I first saw it in the cinema for a double header that included Tom Cruise's dreadful 'The Last Samourai'. I remember the impression it made on me. I also remember feeling embarrassed as a teenager buying a ticket for a movie with such a florid title as 'Master and Commander: Far Side of the World' and Russell Crowe on the poster looking like a butch sailor with an unbuttoned uniform staring wistfully off into the future. I cringed.
How wrong I was. Here is a film told with great precision and mastery by one of the great chameleon filmmakers Peter Weir; I say chameleon because he is a director who always puts his story and characters ahead of himself - his craft is efficient, with the goal being to remove all traces of there being a hand behind the wheel. Everything you need is there, in service to the film.
I've never had the adventure/buccaneer/sailor fantasy growing up, but this film certainly instilled it in me. It's a tremendous adventure, with sweeping battle sequences but is also unusually smart and literate for such a large scale picture. Despite its swashbuckling pretenses, the film allows all of the characters to breathe and come to life over the course of a strangely moving and evocative narrative. Each viewing of the film brings out more details under the surface.
It's a shame it didn't have a chance at a sequel, it deserved one so badly. Meanwhile Pirates of the Caribbean 9: coming to a theater near you . Seek this one out instead.
How wrong I was. Here is a film told with great precision and mastery by one of the great chameleon filmmakers Peter Weir; I say chameleon because he is a director who always puts his story and characters ahead of himself - his craft is efficient, with the goal being to remove all traces of there being a hand behind the wheel. Everything you need is there, in service to the film.
I've never had the adventure/buccaneer/sailor fantasy growing up, but this film certainly instilled it in me. It's a tremendous adventure, with sweeping battle sequences but is also unusually smart and literate for such a large scale picture. Despite its swashbuckling pretenses, the film allows all of the characters to breathe and come to life over the course of a strangely moving and evocative narrative. Each viewing of the film brings out more details under the surface.
It's a shame it didn't have a chance at a sequel, it deserved one so badly. Meanwhile Pirates of the Caribbean 9: coming to a theater near you . Seek this one out instead.