Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
- STEVEN D. GREYDANUS
Like a cannon blast across the bows, Peter Weirs Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World is a thunderous, almost defiant declaration heralding the arrival of a force to be reckoned with.
Captain Lucky Jack Aubrey (Russell Crowe) and Dr. Stephen Maturin
(Paul Bettany), the seafaring heroes of Patrick OBrians intelligent, thrilling
historical novels, have arrived on the screen, in a film as masterful and commanding
as the novels themselves.
That the film was made at all is no surprise;
surprising, indeed, is that it took so long to happen. With twenty volumes published
between 1970 and 1999, OBrians tales of a forceful captain and a refined doctor
serving in Nelsons Navy in the days of Napoleon have won a wide and admiring
readership. (OBrian died in 2000 while writing what would have been the 21st
in the series.)
I havent read enough historical fiction to be able
to verify the assessment of The New York Times that OBrians novels are
the best historical fiction ever written; but Ive read enough OBrian to know
that theyre cracking good yarns, elegantly written, thrillingly plotted and satisfyingly
shaped, vivid in characterization, memorable in incident, impeccably authentic
in period detail. Aubrey and Maturin are as distinctive and persuasive a pair
of characters, and their unlikely friendship is as compelling, as any I have encountered
in fiction.
Unfortunately, great source material is no guarantee of
a great film and herein lies the films real surprise. At a time when
anachronistically up-to-date attitudes, language, and behavior are virtually de
rigeur for period films, when slavish obeisance to focus groups and marketing
strategy aims for the broadest, shallowest possible appeal across gender, racial,
and cultural lines, when dumbed-down moral conflicts spell out with leaden heavy-handedness
which party audiences are meant to support, Master and Commander charts
an altogether different course.
Here is a film that is gloriously, unapologetically
specific, a film that spurns condescension and pandering, made with the novels
own flawless authenticity and obsessive attention to historical detail, with characters
who talk and think and argue like grown-ups and like men of their time and place.
All of this would be achievement enough but beyond that, Master
and Commander is also the new high-water mark for sheer technical achievement
as a seafaring period film. It is simply the most accomplished such film ever
made, bringing to life with unprecedented vividness the experience of life on
the high seas in an 18th-century warship, facing brutal storms and deadly sea
battles. From the creak of the timbers to the bare feet of the men on the rigging,
from the shattering course of a cannonball to the wincing exigencies of naval
field surgery, Master and Commander never feels less than utterly persuasive.
The Historical Context
of a Christian Milieu
An important part of the films historical
context is its matter-of-fact Christian milieu. In the books, Aubrey is Anglican
and Maturin Roman Catholic, and though neither is devout, their Christian heritage
remains part of who they are; and this is carried over into the film.
Maturin, an enthusiastic naturalist, is fascinated by the varieties of animal
life on the Galapagos Islands, where Darwin would later make many of the discoveries
leading to his theory of the origin of species. As Maturin comments on some of
the changes that certain Galapagos species seem to have undergone, someone asks
whether the animals were changed by God. Certainly, Maturin muses thoughtfully,
adding, but did they also change themselves? That is the question There, in
two lines of dialogue, are faith and science, creation and evolution, taken for
granted to be in harmony, not conflict.
Later in the film, Aubrey leads
the crew in the Our Father and invokes the Christian hope of resurrection as part
of a burial at sea. All of this is presented simply and matter-of-factly, without
comment or judgment. Even in a disturbing episode involving a superstitious rumor
of a Jonah-like curse, the film refrains from outright religion-bashing.
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World | |
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Crowe
(A Beautiful Mind) is effortlessly commanding as Jack Aubrey, celebrated
captain of the HMS Surprise, a leader whom men would gladly follow into
battle against a larger, faster, more powerful enemy, or into a deadly storm with
a damaged ship. Given a better written, more complex character than his protagonist
in Gladiator, Crowe rises to the challenge, successfully synthesizing Aubreys
genial charisma and iron-willed leadership, his weaknesses for classical music
and stupid jokes, his fondness for his men and his ability to have them flogged
or even send them to their deaths when necessary.
The real revelation,
though, is Bettany as Maturin. Previously best known for over-the-top roles in
A Knights Tale and A Beautiful Mind, Bettany is astonishingly good
in a far more restrained and demanding role, projecting erudite intelligence and
sophistication, and making Maturins passion for zoology as palpable as Aubreys
love of his ship.
Director Weir (Witness, The Truman Show
) hones the storys focus to laserlike intensity. Choosing as his template
the tenth novel in the series, The Far Side of the World, about an extended
naval engagement between Aubrey and a larger, more powerful enemy ship (in the
films lone concession to demographic necessity, the enemy is changed from an
American frigate to a French privateer), Weir confines the action almost entirely
to the Surprise. Theres no obligatory romance, not even a token female
character (though women and romantic elements can be found elsewhere in OBrians
series).
Instead, Weir focuses on moral and existential issues, especially
questions around whether or when moral obligations such as keeping promises or
completing ones mission may become contingent upon circumstance. Ironically,
as Aubrey and Maturin lock horns over whether to continue to pursue the ships
mission, each winds up arguing alternately for a rigorous and an open-ended interpretation
of duty. At first, debating the viability of their mission, Aubrey is the rigorist
and Maturin the voice of discretion, but later, when Aubrey makes a promise to
Maturin on which he later wishes to renege, Maturin is the one insisting on moral
rigor while Aubrey pleads circumstantial necessity!
This ambiguity,
along with the fact that both characters are sympathetic and likeable, is what
elevates these conflicts above so many military-movie clashes pitting a hard-nosed
by-the-book officer against a more nuanced subordinate or other foil (cf.
K-19: The Widowmaker, Crimson Tide, etc.).
Instead of
merely eliciting a knee-jerk reaction, Weir invites us to contemplate the issues.
Its typical of his even-handed approach that when he raises the theme of power
corrupting, he immediately provides a counter-example in the celebrated Admiral
Nelson, the most powerful man in the British Navy, for whom Aubrey has nothing
but the utmost respect and admiration.
For all that, Master and Commander
is more about action than ideas. Not that the film is non-stop battle scenes;
on the contrary, action junkies are liable to be bored to tears by what passes
for hot pursuit in an 18th-century sea battle, which amounts to anxiously watching
another square-rigger somewhere near the horizon. Yet Weir maintains tension throughout,
punctuated with clever bits of strategy and excitement, and only when necessary
boiling over into all-out combat.
Although Weir adapts freely from his
source material, borrowing bits from various books and only broadly following
the outline of The Far Side of the World, the result is faithful to the
spirit of OBrians works, and few but the most exacting fans will have reason
to complain. For those not familiar with the Aubrey-Maturin books, no cinematic
adaptation of any book in recent memory is as likely to make viewers want to go
out and get the book. Master and Commander is that good. Its easily one
of the years best films.
This is Meaghen Gonzalez, Editor of CERC. I hope you appreciated this piece. We curate these articles especially for believers like you.
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Acknowledgement
Steven D. Greydanus. "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World." The Decent Films Guide.
Decent Films is a site of film appreciation, information and criticism informed by Christian faith.
Reprinted with permission of Steven Greydanus. All rights reserved.
This review originally appeared in the National Catholic Register.
The Author
Steven D. Greydanus is a member of the New York Film Critics Circle, a permanent deacon in the Catholic Archdiocese of Newark, and the founder of DecentFilms.com. He has degrees in media arts and religious studies. He and his wife Suzanne have seven children.
Copyright © Steven D. Greydanus