Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003) – 8.9

Peter Weir’s Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World came five years after his previous film, The Truman Show (1998).  Based upon the popular, voluminous Patrick O’Brien novels, Master and Commander was one of my favorite movies of 2003.  Few directors have a body of work as diverse and dependable as Weir’s, and none can match his peculiarly anti-”auteur” style; the few working today who match his quality of output, including Michael Mann and Martin Scorsese, have developed unmistakable styles of directing, yet Weir’s signature remains indistinguishable even after years of equally impressive work.  Although Master and Commander does not quite reach the hallowed level of his very best films – Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975) and The Last Wave (1977) – it is an extremely satisfying and worthwhile addition to his filmography.

Like Mike Leigh’s Topsy-Turvy (1999) and Robert Altman’s Gosford Park (2001), Master and Commander meticulously captures a particular period of British history and society while retaining the intimate drama that makes it compelling.  Captain Jack Aubrey (Russell Crowe) and his ship of loyal men aboard the HMS Surprise seek the predatory French vessel, the Acheron, in order to hold British defenses of the Pacific against Napoleon.  Also aboard is Aubrey’s closest mate and alter-ego, the ship’s doctor, Stephen Maturin (Paul Bettany).  Maturin, spectacled and lean, is a suitable counterpart to Aubrey’s strapping masculinity, and the men represent divergent philosophies of science and politics, which lend this often action-packed film a believable intellectual gravity.  The film has many of the requisite moments of climax and action but enjoys in equal parts its moments of lull and quiet; the scenes where Maturin and Aubrey play duets on cello and fiddle, or where the men enjoy a few days’ respite on the Galapagos Islands, capture the story’s intimacy with an admirable subtlety and disaffectedness.

After his embarrassing turns in Gladiator (2000), Proof of Life (2000), and Ron Howard’s particularly loathsome A Beautiful Mind (2001), Master and Commander is a fine return to form for Crowe, as well as Bettany, his Beautiful Mind partner-in-crime.  Purposeful or not, their roles in Master and Commander provide blessed redemption for both actors and are examples of truly inspired casting.  The film also features a host of finely acted supporting characters, most notably the thirteen-year-old midshipman, Lord Blakeney (Max Pirkis), whom both Maturin and Aubrey mentor.  Pirkis plays Blakeney with a believable mix of wisdom and modesty for so young a character, and he steals scene after scene.  The head midshipman, Hollum (Lee Ingleby), provides an eloquent counterpoint – a young man whose delicate constitution becomes a fatal liability when the ship encounters windless waters and he is unjustly blamed for its misfortune.

Master and Commander is easily the best of its seafaring kind, but beyond that, it is truly a marvel of the contemporary studio film.  In the hands of a lesser director, it so easily could have been terrible – either overly obscure (see 2003’s Gods and Generals – or not) or focusing too heavily on the swash-buckling, like a thinking man’s Pirates of the Caribbean (shudder).  Thankfully, Weir finds just the proper balance of everything, a skill he has brought to bear on so many smaller, quality films that defy their genres, including Witness (1985), Dead Poets’ Society (1989), and Green Card (1990).  One can only hope that his next film will be sooner in coming.