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"The Bounty"

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rico

Unlike the two earlier films about the infamous mutiny, this one is not based on the Nordoff and Hall novels but on a book entitled "Mr. Bligh and Mr. Christian". It is IMHO the best of the three. Anthony Hopkins plays Bligh and the story is toild from flashbacks from his trial for losing the ship. Mel Gibson is his friend Fletcher Christian who mutinees after Bligh announces that they will sail to Jamaica via the dreaded Cape Horn, where they had wasted 31 days on the origianl voyage to Tahiti (the ship's mission was to ferry breadfruit plants from Tahiti to Jamaica to grow food for the slaved there). After the mutiny skillful editing cuts between the mutineers and Bligh's small crew in the beleagured longboat. Bligh is exonerated at the end and his survival of 3600 miles in an open boat with no charts is still admired as a daring act of seamanship. Wonderful music by Vangelis and exceptional cinematography add to your enjoyment. Liam Neeson and Daniel Day Lewis have major parts as crew members. Recommended.

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Re: "The Bounty" - jamesgarvin 08:14:58 05/06/05 (2)
I am guess I am so jaded by Hollywood's attitude that it is more important to tell a good yarn than be historically accurate that I tend to look at historical films with a jaundiced eye. Based upon the little internet research I have done on this topic, and the one book I have read, I get the impression that the latest film was a little soft on Fletcher Christian, and too hard on Bligh. Most of what I have read have called Bligh something of a strict disciplinarian, but the film, I think, portrayed him as insane, particularly in the third act. Also, Christian was more of a planner in the mutiny, having wanted to shack up with the island women, whereas the film portrayed Christian as a reluctant mutineer, doing so at the cajoling of the other crew members, and largely because of Bligh's tyranical ways. And therein lies the difference: The film suggests that the reason for the mutiny was largely because of Bligh, and the women were a diversion. The historical records indicate the reason for the mutiny was the women, and Bligh only figured into the equation because he refused to allow the men their indulgences.
The post-script of the film states that after they land on Pitcairn Island, what happened with Christian is unknown. According to what I have read, it is relatively well known that he was murdered on the island by the Tahitian men because the Tahitian men were generally viewed as second class citizens on Pitcairn, having to do most of the physical labor, and not allowed to "interact" with the women, and Christian was the leader. As an aside, the film potrayed the men, including Christian, as having one female. Apparently, there was much women exchanging among the English men on Pitcairn.
- Re: Bligh "insane" - rico 11:18:06 05/06/05 (1)
  I think not Now I may be reacting because of the Bligh portrayals in the two earlier films (particularly Charles Laughton) but I thought that in "The Bounty" he was portrayed by Hopkins as a very rounded and sometimes sympathetic human being.
  - Re: Bligh "insane" - jamesgarvin 12:38:13 05/06/05 (0)
    It has been some time in which I have seen the film straight through. But there was the incident with Christian eating the Captain's breadfruit(?), or someother food, and Bligh going ballistic. The other time when Bligh wanted the deck cleaned, the men cleaned it spotless (at least as seen through the camera) and Bligh insisted the decks were filthy. His response, combined with the music that was almost lifted from Psycho, led me to believe that the film was taking a position that Bligh was possessed into "working" the debauchery from the men's bodies. Simply because there was a reason behind his madness does not mean that there was no madness. I believe that scene immediately precedes Christian's eating of the breadfruit or other food.
    Reading between the lines, I suspect that the makers were suggesting that Bligh was very normal, sane, and a competent captain when the trip began. Historians seem to suggest that he was a competent captain, but nothing more than average, and Cook's accomplishments were a source of him feeling like his career was not what it should be. But for some reason, after leaving Tahiti, as a result of a trip in his wiring, or his being insanely angry about his crew's behavior, or his being possessed at working his crew back into shape, at the risk of their morale, he lost his mental faculties. Certainly, his behavior in the beginning of the film was markedly different that his behavior after the ship left Tahiti.
"The Bounty". I love men in breeches and fluffy shirts. - Harmonia 10:42:12 05/05/05 (0)
I find it interesting that dramatists usually frame this story with an authoritarian, rigid Captain Bligh played by an older actor...in reality Bligh was in his 30's when the famous mutiny occurred. By all accounts his was a stubborn personality, but by standards of the day he was not a harsh captain, in fact, quite the opposite. Fletcher Christian was hardly a "hero", nor was Bligh a villain.
One of Bligh's problems was that to save maximum room aboard for the precious breadfruit, the RN sent him on this long voyage without the normal complement of marines. The marines answered directly to the captain and were his "police" on board. Had they been present, the mutiny likely would never have happened or been quelled. Bligh's travails didn't end after surviving the open boat ordeal, he endured many delays and frustrations returning to Britain, including a shipwreck.
A good book on the subject is The Bounty, The True Story, by Alexander. Prolly been out a year or two. It's fascinating to read Bligh's actual log excerpts, transcripts from the trial and other journals/commentary of the principals. Alas for poor Bligh, a protege of Sir Joseph Banks, he rather bungled things in Oz in later years. On the sea it was a different matter as his navigational skills attest.
The Bounty is likely the best of the films, although I still have a soft spot the Brando/Trevor Howard one, which is kind of a glorious mess. Richard Harris is one of the crew on that voyage.
I read the N&H books as a youngster and loved them - they probably fueled my love of the RN during the Napoleonic wars. Through them I discovered Forester's Hornblower series and the quite wonderful Aubrey/Maturin books of Patrick O'Brian.

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