Delusions of Adequacy

Here's something I wrote back in November, during the initial theatrical release of the film Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World. The movie's out on DVD now.

I'm afraid I may have gushed a bit when I wrote this.

My first reaction, upon hearing that a movie would be made of Patrick O'Brian's brilliant sea novels, was "There's no way it'll be any good."

My reaction, upon hearing that sourpuss Russell Crowe would be playing the ebullient Jack Aubrey and that spry Paul Bettany would be playing the sourpuss Stephen Maturin, was "As if I needed another reason to hate Russell Crowe."

My reaction, upon hearing that Peter Weir would be the director, was "Then there *is* a shred of hope... but only a shred."

Saturday, I saw Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World.

Then I saw it again, just to be sure I wasn't wrong about it.

I think it is fair, and safe, to say that this is the best movie I have seen since... ever.

I don't know where to begin singing this movie's praises, so I'll start with my greatest concern: that it would be dumbed down for the masses. I am happy... nay, ecstatic... nay, turning backflips for unbridled joy... that it has not been. The meat of an O'Brian novel (or several) is there, to a far greater extent than we have any right to expect of a movie based on a book. The friendship between Aubrey and Maturin: present and accounted for. Their arguments over subjugation and authority, and Maturin's mixture of disdain and respect for the navy: right there. Aubrey's ebullience in the wardroom and intensity on the quarterdeck: Crowe nails both with the best performance I've ever seen from him.

And there are the supporting characters, doing exactly what they do. Pullings, pleasant and competent, Aubrey's right hand. Bonden, the boatswain (IIRC from the books), cheerful and solidly played by Billy Boyd (who has a role in another movie I've heard a couple of things about, coming out Dec. 17). Davis, big and glowering and teetering on the brink of psychopathy. And, of course, Preserved Killick, who could teach C-3PO a thing or two about complaining, gathering eggs from the ship's hens, and muttering about Aubrey and Maturin's frequent concertos on violin and bass: "there they go again, scrape scrape scrape, and never an honest tune you can dance to... "

There's Surprise herself, of course. God love her, the worthy boat; she is exactly as I'd envisioned her, taking on an American-built, French-flagged heavy frigate with only her captain's skill and luck to protect her. It is almost impossible for me not to feel the wounds she suffers in the movie's opening moments as if they were my own; and Aubrey clearly feels them, as he defends her from Maturin's unknowing comment that she is "aged."

Peter Weir's direction, and the pacing and editing of the movie, is as austere as the lives of the men it depicts. There are no directorly moments, no self-aggrandizing camera tricks or what-a-clever-boy-am-I effects. The screen is a window through which we view the lives and conflicts of men who carry the fates of nations on their duty-pressed backs. This stands in sharp contrast to movies like "Kill Bill," where *every* shot is the director's attempt to be cool. (In Kill Bill's defense, it usually works.) Master and Commander, by contrast, is a movie made by adults, for adults.

And yet there's plenty in it for kids... or, at least, for boys on the brink of manhood. The 12 and 13 year-old midshipmen of the Royal Navy have duties and responsibilities that would literally kill the middle-schooler of today -- and often killed the midshipmen themselves. Master and Commander sports three midshipmen of note; one of them acquits himself with heroics he had only imagined himself capable of in the movie's opening moments, and the other two... well, go see the movie. And if you have a son about to become a man, by all means, take him to see it, too.

I could go on and on, but I've already gone on longer than I'd intended. So I'll close with a caveat:

If you see the movie, and like it (as anyone with even a modicum of taste will), go read the books. As faithful as the movie is, it still cannot hope to capture the depth and complexity of characters developed over the course of not one, not three, but twenty novels by one of the greatest writers of our age. Aubrey and Maturin have secrets and struggles that aren't even hinted at in the movie. This doesn't diminish the movie, but it does point out how the best advice is that given by Aubrey to a
recuperating midshipman Blakeney:

"You should read the book."

In Master and Commander's case, you should *also* see the movie.

Time tempers enthusiasm, of course, but my enthusiasm for this movie is still intense. It rivals -- and indeed may surpass -- my affections for Return of the King as my favorite film of 2003. I'd've voted M&C over ROTK for Best Picture.

That said, there are a couple more caveats:

1. The character of Maturin, though well-played by Paul Bettany (I'd often thought only Tim Curry could do the role justice, but I was wrong), is not nearly as developed in the film as he should have been. Indeed, the surface of the Aubrey-Maturin friendship is barely scratched, and part of the problem is that Maturin remains only a shadow of what he is in the books. For example: there's nothing in the movie to suggest that his line about the French having their spies in England as the English have theirs in France goes deeper than a simplistic observation; actually, Maturin is a spy for British intelligence, and a cunning and effective one, but you have to read the books to learn that.

2. The screenwriters, unwilling to depict a 19th century natural philosopher as a creationist, despite that character's religious beliefs (obviously, intelligent people as far back as 1805 knew that animals change themselves to adapt to their environments, rather than being created with innate defenses against other created predators), put a great deal of Darwinian claptrap in Maturin's mouth -- this despite the fact that Darwin's voyage wouldn't occur until a quarter of a century after the events of M&C.

Oh, and I was wrong about Bonden. Hollar is the boatswain; Bonden is the coxswain.