December 13, 2012
Mutiny on the Bounty
– US, 1935
If the scroll that opens Frank Lloyd’s Mutiny on the Bounty is accurate, the events that unfold in the
film mark a turning point in how humans treat each other. As the film tells it,
before the mutiny depicted in the film, a ship’s crew and officers could be
treated inhumanely by their higher-ups without fear of retaliation because a
captain had to maintain discipline, and one way of ensuring discipline and
loyalty, it was believed, was to be harsh and inhumane. By the end of the film,
there has been an awakening, the birth of a new awareness of human equality and
brotherhood.
One scene in particular demonstrates these two competing
views. In the scene, two small row boats are pulling the Bounty as a result of
there being no wind. This requires a small group of about twelve people to row
as hard as they can in order to pull the ship, and from the expressions on the
men’s faces, it is clear that it is no easy task. One boat is being led by a
supporter of Captain Bligh, the ruthless captain of the Bounty, and his
motivational methods involve shouting insults at the men rowing the boat and
thrashing those he can reach with a whip. The other boat is led by a young midshipman
named Roger Byam. Byam chooses to use words of encouragement to stir his men to
give their all, and when ordered to use the whip at his disposal, his hand
freezes before the whip has a chance to fall on any of its possible targets. The
question is: How will compassion defeat brutality?
The film stars Clark Gable as Lieutenant Fletcher Christian,
Charles Laughton as Captain Bligh, and Franchot Tone as Roger Byam. The three
give powerful performances, and they were each nominated for Best Actor for
their work, marking the first time three people were nominated for Best Actor
for the same film. It may also be why neither of them won. Christian and
Laughton are polar opposites, one favoring the use of heavy-handed tactics with
the crew and the other opposing them. Byam stands in the middle, loyal to the
chain of command, yet sympathetic to the crew.
The film does an excellent job of contrasting Christian and
Bligh, and they are both extremely complicated characters. The film does not
make the case that Christian’s actions are entirely correct. As Byam points
out, there is nothing particularly noble about setting men adrift when death is
almost a near certainty, and as a result, we can understand his sentiments when
he tells Christian that they can never be friends again. In addition, Christian
is well aware of the impact his actions will have on his family and his
reputation. As decent as his intentions were, he will forever be known as a mutineer,
a traitor to the crown he has been so loyal to over the years. As for Bligh, our
impression of him is challenged by his actions immediately following the
mutiny, and it is impossible not to be impressed by his leadership. His obsessive,
possible fatalistic actions later in the film can be compared to those of
Captain Ahab, for it seems clear that revenge is more important to him than the
safety and security of those serving with him.
Mutiny on the Bounty
is notable for several other reasons. All too often in films, English speakers
arrive in new worlds and set about teaching English to the inhabitants of those
areas. In some movies, all one has to do is listen
to your heart in order to magically acquire the English language. Here, though, it is the English speakers
that learn the new language, and like most people, they struggle with its many
complexities. It goes without saying that a movie that places single men on an
island paradise will have an element of romance to it, and yet the romances
that do take place in the film seem entirely authentic. In fact, any actor
wanting to know how to realistically portray love at first sight should study
Gable’s performance. His expression when he first sees Maimiti (Mamo Clark),
the woman who becomes the love of his life, is absolutely perfect. To her
credit, Clark, here making her film debut, matches Gable’s look convincingly.
The film errs slightly when it goes for levity and laughs at
the crew’s expense. For example, instead of realistically dealing with food
shortages and giving his opinion on food rations, the ship’s cook makes goofy
expressions and acts like an amateur. On the ship, there is a running gag about
the best direction in which to hurl pails of food waste. One guess just who the
waste lands on. On the island, he finds himself being courted by a single woman
with at least five children. His response is to run away in comic fashion accompanied
by music that would better fit a slapstick comedy than a naval drama. Other
members of the crew have equally silly moments involving viewing beautiful
women and discussing food. While these moments are unnecessary, thankfully they
are sparse enough so as not to distract viewers from the film’s more dramatic storyline.
Mutiny on the Bounty
is one of those rare films that works pretty much from start to finish. It is filled
with memorable moments and unforgettable characters, and it treats them with
respect and dignity. Bligh could easily have just been portrayed as being
sadistic, yet here we see him at both his worst and his best, and by the end of
the film, we realize that sometimes people with great skills do terrible things
for what they think are the right reasons, and sometimes good people do the
wrong thing for the right reasons. Only history can ultimately tell us who was
correct.
However, here history can be deceiving, for the end of the
film is not really the end for these characters, and from what I read on
Wikipedia, the true events of the 1787 mutiny were not quite as clear-cut or as
rosy as they are depicted in the film. However, a film is not history. It is first
and foremost a story. This one just happens to be about real people in a
variation of a real situation. It is no less powerful just because it plays loosely
with the facts. Mutiny on the Bounty
remains a powerful, complex, and captivating film. It is one of the finest of
its genre. (on DVD and Blu-ray)
4 and a half stars
*Mutiny on the Bounty
was awarded the Oscar for Best Picture of the Year at the eighth Academy Awards.
It was its only award.
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