Today I decided to use my Netflicks "Watch Instantly" account to watch the 1984 film about the Pitcairn Island Muntineer lineage The Bounty. Actually I was really glad this one was on the watch instantly list as it's the one I preferred to see since it is suppose to be the more accurate and realistic account of the others and very realistic it was, right down to the topless island girls. The film has a PG rating regardless and I wondered how they got away with that until I read Roger Ebert's review on the flick and he thought the PG rating borrowed the same rule that National Geographic uses, which is anything below the equator doesn't really count as nudity, so there ya go. Above Anthony Hopkins stars as Lieutenant William Bligh and Mel Gibson as Fletcher Christian. As always Anthony Hopkins does an amazing job in his role as does Mel Gibson and I came away not only feeling as if I knew these two men better, but also understood both their sides in this famouse muntiny and since thats exactly what I was looking for in this version of the story, I'm glad to say, its exactly what I got.
The above still, taken from the first act of the movie, shows Bligh on his way to court to answer for any wrongs he did in losing his ship. It's the vehical the writer of the film uses to tell the story for the entire movie, Bligh answering to the court and flashbacks showing just what happened and I think it works really well.
The film was directed by Roger Donaldson, a pretty new New Zealand director at the time and I think he does an excellent job. The film's music is done by Vangelis, who did the famous score for Chariot's of Fire and it really sets the mood and tone well.
My take, Lieutenant Bligh was a man who was trying to succeed in his job and as he puts it in the movie, "make a name for himself" before he grows too old to do so. Apparently he had not had much luck with this in the past and so he hopes to do so in heading The Bounty on a journey to Tahiti in an effort to obtain their breadfruit plants. The film portrays Fletcher Christian as apparently a friend of Lieutenant Blighs, a younger man then he, who had been on journey's before with Bligh and who Bligh asks to join him on this one. It all starts out very smoothly until Bligh makes the mistake of taking them on a dangerous course, a course he hopes to prove himself, but fails miserably and his right hand guy, John Fryer, (played by Daniel Day-Lewis) turns on him. He then demotes Fryer and promotes Fletcher. Unlike the other men, Fletcher does not seem interested in obtaining promotions or any kind of power. It almost seems as if the job was put upon him and he seems a little put off by it, but is taking and doing his best regardless.
I wanted to understand this part of the muntiny story in particular because of all the information I found on the net about this story, I could not find a really detailed answer as to why Fletcher turned on Captain Bligh and I knew this movie would answer that for me.
As to the answer why, despondency about the job he was given was not the only problem Fletcher had to deal with. After spending 30 weeks on a exotic paradise-like island with friendly natives and topless island girls, a place where any man would want to call home and never leave, Bligh notices Fletcher is getting a little too comfortable with the natives, as the rest of his men have and once back aboard The Bounty headed for home, Bligh begins an angry wrath of fury, strict orders and displine in an effort to shake the men out of their loose, irresponsible attitudes that he feels the island impressed upon them during their stay and the pressure proves to be too much for Fletcher to handle. Hence the why and hence the spark the ignited the mutiny fire.
The movie is great and the ending is expected but still very satisfying to watch. As I watched; however, I felt the story ended where another maybe even more interesting one began and I really wished there had been a sequel.
No comments:
Post a Comment