| Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Peter Weir |
| Screenplay by |
|
| Based on | Aubrey–Maturin series byPatrick O'Brian |
| Produced by |
|
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Russell Boyd |
| Edited by | Lee Smith |
| Music by | |
Production companies | |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox[note 1] |
Release date |
|
Running time | 138 minutes[2] |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $150 million[3] |
| Box office | $211.6 million[3] |
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World is a 2003 Americanepicperiodwar-drama film co-written, produced and directed byPeter Weir, set during theNapoleonic Wars. The film's plot and characters are loosely adapted from novels in authorPatrick O'Brian'sAubrey–Maturin series, which includes 20 completed novels ofJack Aubrey's naval career. The film starsRussell Crowe as Aubrey, captain in theRoyal Navy, andPaul Bettany asDr. Stephen Maturin, the ship's surgeon. This was the second onscreen collaboration for Crowe and Bettany, who previously co-starred in 2001'sA Beautiful Mind.
The film was a personal project of20th Century Fox executiveTom Rothman, who recruited Weir to direct. Filming took place on the open sea, on replica ships in the water tanks ofBaja Studios, and in theGalápagos Islands. The film, which cost US$150 million to make, was a co-production of 20th Century Fox,Miramax Films,Universal Pictures, andSamuel Goldwyn Films, and released on November 14, 2003. The film received critical acclaim and grossed $212 million worldwide.
It garnered Weir theBAFTA Award for Best Direction. At the76th Academy Awards, the film was nominated in ten categories, includingBest Picture andBest Director. It wonBest Cinematography andBest Sound Editing.
In April 1805, during theNapoleonic Wars, the British frigateHMSSurprise is ambushed by the FrenchprivateerAcheron off Brazil, suffering heavy damage. After escaping into a fog bank,Surprise's captainJack Aubrey refuses to return to land and insists on having his ship repaired at sea. Shortly afterwards,Surprise is again ambushed byAcheron, but escapes using a decoy raft. FollowingAcheron southwards to prevent her from attackingBritish whalers,Surprise heads for theGalápagos Islands, where Aubrey had promisedSurprise's surgeonStephen Maturin several days to explore the islands' unique flora and fauna. However, when she reaches the islands,Surprise rescues survivors from a British whaler burnt byAcheron and Aubrey orders a pursuit of the privateer, upsetting Maturin.
Becalmed for several days, the crew ofSurprise becomes restless, and superstition starts taking hold among them. A sailor deliberately bumps into the unpopularmidshipman Hollom, whom the crew believe to be a"Jonah", and is flogged; Hollom subsequently commits suicide by jumping overboard. The wind picks up again, andSurprise resumes the chase. The ship'scaptain of marines accidentally shoots Maturin in the stomach whilefowling. As the required operation would be much easier on land, Aubrey ordersSurprise to return to the Galápagos, where Maturin performsself-surgery using a mirror. Finally giving up his pursuit ofAcheron, Aubrey grants Maturin the chance to explore the Galápagos and gather specimens before they return toPortsmouth. While looking for theflightless cormorant, Maturin discoversAcheron on the other side of the islands. He returns toSurprise and warns Aubrey, who after observing the camouflage ability of Maturin'sphasmid specimen orders his ship to be disguised as a whaler.
Acheron falls for the disguise and is ambushed bySurprise, which dismasts the privateer. Aubrey leads a boarding party ontoAcheron and captures the ship after fierce hand-to-hand combat. He meetsAcheron's surgeon, de Vigny, who informs him that the French ship's captain is dead and gives Aubrey his sword. Both ships are repaired by the crew ofSurprise, whosefirst lieutenant Pullings is promoted tocaptain and ordered to sailAcheron toValparaíso to parole their French captives. AsAcheron sails away, Maturin mentions to Aubrey that according to her ship logs de Vigny died from a fever months ago. Realizing that the surgeon was actually the captain in disguise, Aubrey orders the crew ofSurprise tobeat to quarters. Maturin is once again denied the chance to explore the Galápagos, but Aubrey wryly notes that since the bird he seeks is flightless, "it's not going anywhere." The duo playMusica notturna delle strade di Madrid asSurprise turns in pursuit ofAcheron once more.
In trying to find men who looked as though they were from the 19th century, Weir recruited many extras fromPoland.[8]Philip French noted that the casting of Crowe, an Australian, as a British naval hero followed a tradition in film (e.g.Errol Flynn as Geoffrey Thorpe inThe Sea Hawk,Peter Finch asLord Nelson inBequest to the Nation, andMel Gibson asFletcher Christian inThe Bounty).[4]
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The film is drawn from theAubrey–Maturin series byPatrick O'Brian, but matches the events in no one novel. The author drew from real events in the Napoleonic Wars, as he describes in the introduction to the first novel,Master and Commander. Various opinions have been offered with regard to which Royal Navy captain most closely matches the fictional character of Aubrey; David Cordingly, writing forThe Daily Telegraph, suggestedThomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald,[9] a view with which the Royal Navy Museum concurs, at least with regard to the inspiration for the captain's character in the first novel,Master and Commander.[10]
While no specific British naval officer is a complete match for Aubrey, the exploits of two naval captains are said to have inspired events in the novels, the forementionedCaptain Lord Thomas Cochrane,[9][10] and CaptainWilliam Wolseley.[citation needed] Cochrane used the ruse of placing a light on a floating barrel at night to avoid capture.[11][non-primary source needed][original research?] Wolseley, aboard HMSPapillon, disguised a ship under his command as a commercial boat; on discovering information that a rogue ship was on the other side of a small island, he sailed around the island and captured the Spanish ship, on April 15, 1805.[12][non-primary source needed][original research?]
The film combines elements from three different novels by O'Brian, but its principal source is his tenth novel,The Far Side of the World.[4] The film, however, takes place in 1805 during the Napoleonic Wars rather than during theWar of 1812[4][better source needed];University of St. Francis historian Cathy Schultz claimed that the "filmmakers thought American audiences might not want to see Americans as the villains", leading them to "switc[h] the events to 1805",[13] an assertion strongly disputed by20th Century Fox chief executiveTom Rothman, who initiated the film's development.[14][8] Rothman also denied claims that France had been used as the villain due to its objection to theIraq War. He argued that the setting had been changed in order to avoid lengthy historical exposition on why the United States and the United Kingdom were fighting. Rothman also omitted scenes portrayinghomosexuality, violentimpressment andcorporal punishments of sailors, and severe hardships of life at sea in order to obtain a PG-13 rating.[15] With regard to further differences between source novel and film, the fictional opponent was changed from USSNorfolk to the U.S.-built French privateerfrigateAcheron.[16][note 2] As well, the film excludes scenes from the books that took place in ports,[clarification needed] and, besides Brazilian women in a single scene, the novels' female characters were not adapted.[4]
The episode in which Aubrey deceives the enemy by means of a raft bearing lanterns is taken fromMaster and Commander, while the episode in which Maturin directs surgery on himself, while gritting his teeth in pain, to remove a bullet is taken fromHMSSurprise.[17][non-primary source needed][original research?]
20th Century Fox executiveTom Rothman had wished to adapt O'Brian's novels since first reading them, recognizing the potential for a film franchise. He originally began developing the film atThe Samuel Goldwyn Company in 1993. However, the film was later acquired byTouchstone Pictures withJohn McTiernan hired as director. When Rothman became the CEO of Fox, he re-acquired the rights in 1998 and recruited directorPeter Weir to helm the project.[8][15][18]
Great efforts were made to reproduce the authentic look and feel of life aboard an early nineteenth-centuryman-of-war. In addition to 2,000 hats and 1,900 pairs of shoes, some 400 pounds of hair were used on actors.[14]
However, only ten days of the filming took place at sea aboardRose (a reproduction of the 18th-centurypost shipHMSRose).[8][note 3] Other scenes were shot on a full-scale replica mounted ongimbals in a nearly 20-million-gallon tank atBaja Studios in Mexico,[14][19][8] built for the filming ofTitanic (1997).[20][14]
There was a third HMSSurprise which was a scale model built byWeta Workshop. A storm sequence was enhanced using digitally composited footage of waves shot on board amodern replica ofCook'sEndeavour roundingCape Horn. All of the actors were given a thorough grounding in the naval life of the period in order to make their performances as authentic as possible. The ship's boats used in the film were Russian Naval six- and four-oaredyawls supplied by Central Coast Charters and Boat Base Monterey.[citation needed] Their faithful 18th-century appearance complemented the historical accuracy of the rebuilt "Rose," whose own boat, the "Thorn", could be used only in the Brazilian scene.[citation needed]
Master and Commander was the first non-documentary film to shoot on-location in theGalápagos.[8] Filming took place from June to November 2002.
Sound designer Richard King earnedMaster and Commander an Oscar for its sound effects by going to great lengths to record realistic sounds, particularly for the battle scenes and the storm scenes.[21] King and director Peter Weir began by spending months reading the Patrick O'Brian novels in search of descriptions of the sounds that would have been heard on board the ship—for example, the "screeching bellow" of cannon fire and the "deep howl" of a cannonball passing overhead.[21]
King worked with the film's Lead Historical Consultant Gordon Laco, who located collectors in Michigan who owned a 24-pounder and a 12-pounder cannon. King, Laco, and two assistants went to a National Guard base in Michigan and recorded the sounds of the cannon firing. They placed microphones near the cannon to get the "crack" of the cannon fire, and also about 300 yards (270 m) downrange to record the "shrieking" of the chain shot as it passed overhead. They also recorded the sounds of bar shot and grape shot passing overhead, and later mixed the sounds of all three types of shot for the battle scenes.
For the sounds of the shot hitting the ships, they set up wooden targets at the artillery range and blasted them with the cannon, but found the sonic results underwhelming. Instead, they returned to Los Angeles and there recorded sounds of wooden barrels being destroyed. King sometimes added the "crack" of a rifle shot to punctuate the sound of a cannonball hitting a ship's hull.[21]
For the sound of wind in the storm as the ship rounds Cape Horn, King devised a wooden frame rigged with one thousand feet of line and set it in the back of a pickup truck. By driving the truck at 70 miles per hour (110 km/h) into a 30–40-knot (56–74 km/h; 35–46 mph) wind, and modulating the wind with barbecue and refrigerator grills, King was able to create a range of sounds, from "shrieking" to "whistling" to "sighing", simulating the sounds of wind passing through the ship's rigging.
Richard Tognetti, who scored the film's music, taught Crowe how to play the violin, as Aubrey plays the violin with Maturin on his cello in the movie.[22] Crowe purchased the violin personally as the budget did not allow for the expense. The violin was made in 1890 by the Italian violin makerLeandro Bisiach, and sold at auction in 2018 for US$104,000.[23] Bettany learned how to play thecello for the role of Maturin, so the pair could be filmed playing with proper posture and technique instead of miming. The recording was dubbed in the final version of the film.[24][25]
Iva Davies, lead singer of the Australian bandIcehouse, traveled to Los Angeles to record the soundtrack to the film withChristopher Gordon andRichard Tognetti. Together, they won the 2004 APRA/AGSC Screen Music Award in the "Best Soundtrack Album" category.[26] The score includes an assortment ofbaroque andclassical music, notably the first ofJohann Sebastian Bach'sSuites for Unaccompanied Cello, Suite No. 1 inG major,BWV 1007, played byYo-Yo Ma; the Strassburg theme in the third movement ofWolfgang Amadeus Mozart'sViolin Concerto No. 3; the third (Adagio) movement ofCorelli'sChristmas Concerto (Concerto grosso inG minor, Op. 6, No. 8); and a recurring rendition ofRalph Vaughan Williams'sFantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis. The music played onviolin andcello before the end isLuigi Boccherini'sString Quintet (Quintettino) for 2violins,viola & 2cellos inC major ("Musica notturna delle strade di Madrid"), G. 324 Op. 30. The two arrangements of this cue contained in the CD differ significantly from the one heard in the movie.
The song sung in thewardroom is "Don't Forget Your Old Shipmates", a British Navy song written in the early 1800s and arranged in 1978 byJim Mageean[27] from his albumOf Ships... and Men.[28] The tunes sung and played by the crew on deck at night are "O'Sullivan's March", "Spanish Ladies" and "The British Tars" ("The shipwrecked tar"), which was set to tune of "Bonnie Ship the Diamond" and called "Raging Sea/Bonnie Ship the Diamond" on the soundtrack.
On November 17, 2003,Master and Commander had its UK Premiere at the 57thRoyal Film Performance, a fundraising event held in aid ofThe Film and TV Charity.[29]
Hoping to draw adults during thefilm awards seasons,Master and Commander was slated for a release in mid-November 2003. However, the film failed to reach the No. 1 spot on its opening weekend.[8] It opened No. 2 behind Christmas comedyElf in the first weekend of North American release, November 14–16, 2003, earning $25,105,990.[30][8][3] It dropped to the No. 4 position in the second weekend and #6 in the third, and finished the domestic run with $93,927,920 in gross receipts. Outside the U.S. and Canada, the film grossed $118,083,191, doing best in Italy (at $15,111,841).[3] The film grossed $212 million globally, recouping its $150 million budget.[8]
On review aggregate websiteRotten Tomatoes, 85% of 222 critics gaveMaster and Commander: The Far Side of the World an overall positive review, with an average rating of 7.6/10. The site's critics consensus states: "Russell Crowe's rough charm is put to good use in this masterful adaptation of Patrick O'Brian's novel."[31] OnMetacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 81 out of 100 based on 42 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[32] Audiences polled byCinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.[33]
Roger Ebert gave the film 4 stars out of 4, saying that "it achieves the epic without losing sight of the human".[20]The Guardian'sPeter Bradshaw praised the film and Crowe's performance.[34]New York Times criticA. O. Scott described the film as "stupendously entertaining".[35] However,Jason Epstein, also writing forThe New York Times, criticized the film, taking issue with changes from the novel, Crowe's "one-dimensional action hero", and implausible events in the script.[14]
Christopher Hitchens gave a mixed review: "Any cinematic adaptation of O'Brian must stand or fall by its success in representing this figure [Dr. Stephen Maturin]. On this the film doesn't even fall, let alone stand. It skips the whole project." (The film omits completely the fact that the doctor and naturalist is also a spy for England—a key plot element in the novels.) Hitchens nonetheless praised the action scenes, writing: "In one respect the action lives up to its fictional and actual inspiration. This was the age ofBligh and Cook and of voyages of discovery as well as conquest, and when HMSSurprise makes landfall in the Galapagos Islands we get a beautifully filmed sequence about how the dawn of scientific enlightenment might have felt."[36]
San Francisco Chronicle film reviewerMick LaSalle was generally downbeat and, after praising director Weir's handling of scenes with no dialogue, observed that "Weir is less surefooted as a screenwriter. Having not read any of O'Brian's novels, I can't say if the fault is in Weir's adaptation or in the source material, but halfway intoMaster and Commander the friendship of the captain and the doctor begins to seem schematic, as if all the positive traits that an individual could have were divided equally between these two guys, just so they can argue. Their interaction takes on a preening quality, reminiscent of the interaction of theStar Trek characters four or five movies down the line. We come to realize that the specific adventure matters little except as a showcase for these personalities. Once that happens, the story involving the French ship loses much of its interest and all of its danger, and the movie starts taking on water.Master and Commander stays afloat to the finish, but that's all that can be said."[37]
At the76th Academy Awards in 2004,Master and Commander received ten nominations:Best Cinematography,Best Sound Editing,Best Picture,Best Director,Best Art Direction,Best Costume Design,Best Film Editing,Best Makeup,Best Sound Mixing andBest Visual Effects. It won the awards for Best Cinematography and Best Sound Editing.[38][39] The film also garnered Weir theBAFTA Award for Best Direction.[40]
Weir, asked in 2005 if he would make asequel, stated he thought it "most unlikely", and after internet rumors to the contrary, stated "I think that while it did well...ish at the box office, it didn't generate that monstrous, rapid income that provokes a sequel."[41] In 2007 the film was included on a list of "13 Failed Attempts To Start Film Franchises" byThe A.V. Club, noting that "this surely stands as one of the most exciting opening salvos in nonexistent-series history, and the Aubrey–Maturin novels remain untapped cinematic ground."[42]
Naomi Novik, afantasy author, credits the inspiration for heralternative history seriesTemeraire wheredragons fight in the Napoleonic Wars, as coming from a "naval adventure Napoleonic phase" instigated by watchingMaster and Commander then reading the Aubrey-Maturin books.[43] Starting by writingfan fiction based on the Aubrey-Maturin characters, Novik eventually would develop her idea of introducing dragons to the Napoleonic wars in what would become the first book in her series, 2006'sHis Majesty's Dragon.[44]
In 2009 Crowe claimed in an interview with the Associated Press he was in negotiations for a sequel to the film based on the eleventh book from the Aubrey-Maturin seriesThe Reverse of the Medal.[45] In December 2010, Crowe launched an appeal onTwitter to get the sequel made: "If you want aMaster and Commander sequel I suggest you e-mailTom Rothman at Fox and let him know your thoughts".[46]
Film critic Scott Tobias wrote a positive retrospective article about this film in 2019, begrudging the fact thatPirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, another sea-faring film also released in 2003, had led to a string ofPirates of the Caribbean fantasy films, but there was no demand for a sequel featuring Captain Jack Aubrey and deeply rooted in historical facts of the Napoleonic Wars, theAge of Sail and theAge of Discovery.[47]
In summer 2020,Vulture noted that the "film is ripe for reappraisal."[48] In January 2021, Crowe publicly defended the film from criticism.[49][50][51] A March 2023 story inGQ noted the film's continued popularity among millennial men who were watching the film on streaming services. It theorized that this was in part due to the film's portrayal of "non-toxic masculinity" and strong male friendships, particularly the one between Aubrey and Maturin. "Overall, the masculinity ofMaster and Commander ... is overwhelmingly wholesome and positive," reporter Gabriella Paiella wrote. "Any nostalgia for the traditionalism in the movie is less reactionary and more about the healthy male bonding between the characters." That was contrasted with continued problems withmale bonding among 2020s American men.[52]
In a 2020 retrospective interview discussing both the Aubrey-Maturin books and the film, author Rachel McMillan discussed her opinion on the film as a longtime fan of the original books stating it "captured the essence of the 21 stories as well as the central relationship between Jack and Stephen" and praises Peter Weir's directing.[53] McMillan notes though she finds the film to be "deprived of the women who make the series so exceptional" noting the absence of book characters such asDiana Villiers and Sophie Aubrey as significant omissions in the film along with the lack of Stephen's espionage career.[53] In a 2022 interview, artistGeoff Hunt who made cover art for the Aubrey-Maturin series and is credited as an advisor on the film, noted a sense of regret that the film had tried to condense too much material from the books thus limiting the potential opportunities for sequels.[54] Hunt also expressed his desire to see more of the series adapted to film, particular noting his desire to have seen the espionage plots inTreason's Harbour explored in film.
A tall ship appearing in the background ofDeadpool & Wolverine in 2024 was speculated to be a reference toMaster and Commander, and the claim was initially backed by the film's directorShawn Levy in a press interview.[55] Levy would retract his statement after consulting with the film's visual effects artists and confirming the 3D model was a generic tall ship.
In 2025, it was one of the films voted for the "Readers' Choice" edition ofThe New York Times' list of "The 100 Best Movies of the 21st Century," finishing at number 190.[56]
In June 2021, it was reported that a second film is in development by20th Century Studios, aprequel based on the first novel only, withPatrick Ness penning the script.[57] As of October 2024, the studio was looking for a director.[58][needs update]
The title derives from the first Aubrey-Maturin novel and the tenth book in the series, which is the principal source. ... The film's director, Peter Weir, and John Collee, his co-screenwriter, have made a major change by shifting the time from 1812 to 1805, some weeks before Trafalgar, and turning the enemy into France instead of the United States. They've also taken the bold step of eliminating any scenes shot in ports... and reducing the female presence...
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)Our fingers are in the right place, and our bowing is good, but you wouldn't want to hear the sound we were making.
Even after seven months of practice to learn four classical pieces, Bettany admits, "we sounded like two people trying to kill wounded animals." When they filmed the duets, Weir says he played the professionals' recording used in the film as background so the actors couldn't hear themselves.
{{cite book}}:|work= ignored (help)
