Review of The Bounty (1984) by Edith N — 27 Mar 2013

Maybe If Daniel Day-Lewis Had Played Fletcher Christian?

There are celebrities whose popularity, especially as it relates to sex appeal, I've never quite gotten. Don't get me wrong; I'm not going to say that I think Mel Gibson is ugly. Even now, he's not bad-looking, though considerably more average than he was throughout the mid-'80s. However, this is an early movie in the careers of both Daniel Day-Lewis, now the only man to win three Best Actor Oscars, and Liam Neeson, nominated for [i]Schindler's List[/i] but never won. This is before we knew quite how crazy Daniel Day-Lewis is, and it's before Liam Neeson went all crazy and started killing wolves and Eastern European sex traffickers. Back in 1984, they were both attractive men, certainly not considerably less attractive than Mel Gibson. I think Daniel Day-Lewis was more so. And yet Mel Gibson is the one who got drooled over. Which I suppose also proves that no one's taking talent into consideration.

Unlike many variations on the story of William Bligh (Sir Anthony Hopkins) and Fletcher Christian (Gibson), this one starts with the friendship of the two men. They'd sailed together before, and Bligh asks Christian to go with him on a voyage to Tahiti, where they will acquire breadfruit trees to be transplanted in Jamaica, so there is breadfruit to feed slaves. Bligh even talks with enthusiasm about the prospect of sailing to Tahiti via Cape Horn, because they will return via the Cape of Good Hope and therefore circumnavigate the globe. However, the trip around Cape Horn is too difficult, and they must sail around Africa instead. Upon reaching Tahiti, they make arrangements with the local king (Wi Kuki Kaa) for breadfruit trees. However, they must settle in and wait, and the men of the [i]Bounty[/i] are seduced by the ways of Tahiti. Christian even falls in love and marries Mauatua (Tevaite Vernette), daughter of King Tynah.

In this version of the story, Bligh is not a bad person. In fact, I've read that he used the lash even less than the average British Navy captain of the time. He is being court-martialed in the framing device (by Baron Larry!) for having lost his ship. They have him go a little crazy upon leaving Tahiti, completely with silly musical stings, but in general, we are left only to agree with the conclusion that he did what he could. In fact, the sailing with which he saved the lives of those who were set adrift is one of the most impressive feats of seamanship of which I am aware, and the movie actually lets us know that it happened. Instead of painting him as a cruel tyrant, he is mostly shown as being concerned about his men. Yes, he has ambitions that take control over his good sense now and again, though the worst of these (the plan to return via Cape Horn) is an invention of the filmmakers and a contradiction of Bligh's direct orders. It is also true that a man of his class and standing would be at best embarrassed by the Tahitian society.

Unfortunately, that's a problem when it comes to the fact that Fletcher Christian isn't an outright villain, either. Bad enough that Mel Gibson wasn't as good an actor as Sir Anthony Hopkins. Worse, about the only motivations we are given for the mutiny is Christian's longing to return to Mauatua, Bligh's sudden return to naval discipline, and that invented plan to travel by Cape Horn. He may love Mauatua, but their interactions do not seem to provide enough motivation for him to throw away his past and risk hanging. A return to naval discipline might well be frustrating, and the brunt of it seems to have been on Christian, but even at his worst, Bligh still wasn't as bad as various other captains. (Technically, he was a lieutenant, but as the commander of a vessel, he was a captain.) So rather than just make him selfish, a villain himself, Bligh is forced to endure a little more posthumous character assassination.

Part of the problem with this movie is the Mel Gibson thing. Daniel Day-Lewis and Liam Neeson both have minor roles; I do keep harping on them, but even in just a few minutes of screen time, they both make it clear how much more talented they were. Even at his best, Mel Gibson was never all that good, and this was far from his best. However, I think he's kind of a symptom of the '80s nature of the film. I actually kind of like Vangelis, but the music is all wrong for this particular story. The most laughable moment in the whole picture comes when Bligh appears to have some sort of psychotic break and starts insisting that the ship is filthy. He points to dirt, possibly dirt only he can see, and every time he gestures, we get a musical sting. It simply doesn't work. A better variant might have been to use nothing but period music; the period music that is used actually gets used to very good effect. It's a shame any way you look at it; it's the most historically accurate version of the story that I know, and it's so cheesy!