Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World

Gemey and I watched Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World. Starring Russell Crowe as "Lucky" Jack Aubrey, Captain of His Majesty's Ship Surprise. I was surprised at how richly detailed and authentic it seemed. My wife was surprised that such a big film could be so boring.

The story is set against the hunt for a Yankee-built privateer, Acheon. England and France are at war and Napoleon's army is hungry for money, and his ships take spoils from English shipping. Sailing under a French flag, the privateers do everything pirates do, but without the risk of being strung from a yardarm for it upon their capture.

I love tall ships. The Surprise is played by the Rose, a three mast tall ship that resembles the frigate sailed by Captain Aubrey and his men. In full sail she projects a magnificence unmatched by powered ships. The 197 man crew are crammed into a wooden box just 180 feet long and 32 feet wide. Though a monument to the craft and skill of shipwrights, these Frigates were tiny corks on a vast, angry ocean. Lucky Jack and his shipmates are projecting English power and protecting English interests halfway across the globe in a ship with less square footage than my house.

This reality hits home early in the picture, and I could get a sense as to just what caliber these men had to have been, how close they had to become. Months at see required enormous discipline to cope with the deprivations of being far from home and all alone, with nothing but your wits and skill to keep you alive.

Life at sea is portrayed well in Master and Commander. You see glimpses into the lore and superstition legendary in the worlds navies. Young midshipmen, fledgling officers in the English Admiralty, are shown bearing a man's burden, though scarcely older than 12. Interplay between Captain Aubrey and ship's surgeon and naturalist Dr. Stephen Maturin, (Paul Bettany) is particularly interesting as they map out the clash of philosophies about the nature of man. Maturin's desire to explore the Galapagos islands demonstrate how war and exploration often overlapped.

It's a shame I missed this movie in the theaters. It is magnificently filmed, and my smallish screen did not do justice to the amazing shots of the Surprise underway in clear seas, storms and combat. Though deprived of the immersive experience of these scenes, the characters form cabin boy to Captain are fascinating to watch. In one scene, Aubrey rouses his sailors to imminent battle against the bigger, more heavily armed Acheaon:

Do you want to see a guillotine in Piccadilly?

No!

Do you want to call that raggedy arse Bonaparte your king?

No!

Do you want your children to sing the Marseillaise?

NO!

Wonderful. Master and Commander is, despite my wife's disdain, a sea yarn as interesting and beautiful to watch as any, and a good way for tall ship buffs to spend an evening.

Tim McNabb