DesertFox
11-14-2003, 10:14 PM
Link (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A38533-2003Nov13.html)
The great director Billy Wilder was once asked about subtlety in movies. "Of course, there must be subtleties," Wilder said. "Just make sure you make them obvious."
The trailer for "Master and Commander," the seafaring epic opening today, can hardly be described as subtle. It is a dazzling montage of dramatic scenes of early 19th-century naval warfare, with cannonballs, bodies, furniture and masts flying all over the place. Nonetheless, my first reaction to a screening of the film was that it was beautiful and brilliant, but I was not sure it would find a mass audience because of its subtlety.
Perhaps subtlety is the wrong word. It perfectly describes director Peter Weir's mind and manner, but perhaps refinement is the word for what might hinder the film's commercial success. Weir gives us some magnificently choreographed naval mayhem, but it is spread over two hours of thoughtfulness and restraint.
The story, drawn from the Patrick O'Brian novels, is framed by battle scenes between a British and a French warship. The TV trailer promises " 'Gladiator' at sea." But the movie is really about the nature of naval life in the age of sail, the nature of command and the nature of friendship (between the ship's captain and the ship's doctor).
Although entirely fictional, "Master and Commander" might be considered the most dramatic and brilliant naval documentary ever made. It should be on the reading (viewing) list of every college course on the history of naval warfare. Weir has given unbelievable attention to every detail of the period -- the cookware, the rigging, the uniform buttons, the drinking songs, the instruments of surgery.
More here (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A38533-2003Nov13.html)
The great director Billy Wilder was once asked about subtlety in movies. "Of course, there must be subtleties," Wilder said. "Just make sure you make them obvious."
The trailer for "Master and Commander," the seafaring epic opening today, can hardly be described as subtle. It is a dazzling montage of dramatic scenes of early 19th-century naval warfare, with cannonballs, bodies, furniture and masts flying all over the place. Nonetheless, my first reaction to a screening of the film was that it was beautiful and brilliant, but I was not sure it would find a mass audience because of its subtlety.
Perhaps subtlety is the wrong word. It perfectly describes director Peter Weir's mind and manner, but perhaps refinement is the word for what might hinder the film's commercial success. Weir gives us some magnificently choreographed naval mayhem, but it is spread over two hours of thoughtfulness and restraint.
The story, drawn from the Patrick O'Brian novels, is framed by battle scenes between a British and a French warship. The TV trailer promises " 'Gladiator' at sea." But the movie is really about the nature of naval life in the age of sail, the nature of command and the nature of friendship (between the ship's captain and the ship's doctor).
Although entirely fictional, "Master and Commander" might be considered the most dramatic and brilliant naval documentary ever made. It should be on the reading (viewing) list of every college course on the history of naval warfare. Weir has given unbelievable attention to every detail of the period -- the cookware, the rigging, the uniform buttons, the drinking songs, the instruments of surgery.
More here (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A38533-2003Nov13.html)