Master and Commander --the movie
"Chuck Bollinger" wrote in message
news:WARxb.249079$275.917573@attbi_s53...
Gogarty wrote:
Has anyone seen this movie? I did yesterday. Disappointing. No depth at
all.
Yes, like another complex effort: "Dune". Frank Herbert, the author,
complained
that the movie should have been titled "Scenes from Dune".
Another befitting title "Who Dunit". I couldn't tell who was fighting whom.
Parhaps the most distinguishing feature of the POB books is the slow pace.
Apparently POB was a fan of Louisa May Alcott with her detail, and it is
said
that one of the volumes, in which the story is entirely (?) on land, is a
tribute to her. For that reason, it would seem impossible to accomplish
the
feel of the books in a movie. And, really, try to think of the movie you
would
produce from the real M&C, volume 1. By the time you got the music
recital
where A meets M and challenges him, to the promotion, re-meeting and
dinner,
fitting the Sophie - there's an hour gone just doing that properly, and
they
haven't even got underway.
The diametrical opposite of POB's books are Patrick Cornwell, "Sharp"
series, in
which this incredible (literally) ubermench of a junior officer winds up
hobnobbing with Nelson and all sorts of stuff. I couldn't stand it - too
MTV.
I do hope that there will be future movies and that they will serve the
population of loyal readers by developing characters and such.
Nevertheless, as
a production, it certainly conveyed the confusion of a naval battle,
boarding,
and such. And the image of that guy sitting on the 'seat of ease' as the
camera
panned down the port side in the snow - that's going to stay with me for a
long
time.
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