Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World is a 2003 film directed by Peter Weir, starring Russell Crowe as Jack Aubrey, with Paul Bettany as Stephen Maturin and released by 20th Century Fox, Miramax Films and Universal Studios. The film's plot and characters are adapted from three novels in author Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey–Maturin series, which has a total of 20 novels of Jack Aubrey's naval career.
At the 76th Academy Awards, the film was nominated for 10 Oscars, including Best Picture. It won in two categories, Best Cinematography and Best Sound Editingand lost in all other categories to The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.
The film takes place in May 1805, during the Napoleonic Wars. Captain "Lucky Jack" Aubrey of HMS Surprise is ordered to pursue the French privateer Acheron, and "Sink, Burn, or take her a Prize." As the film opens, the British warship is ambushed by Acheron; Surprise is heavily damaged, while its own cannon fire does not penetrate the enemy ship's hull. Using smaller boats, the crew of Surprise tow the ship into a fog bank and evade pursuit. Aubrey learns from a crewman who saw Acheron being built that it is heavier and faster than Surprise, and the senior officers consider the ship out of their class. Aubrey notes that such a ship could tip the balance of power in Napoleon's favour if allowed to plunder the British whaling fleet at will. He orders pursuit of Acheron, rather than returning to port for repairs. Acheron again ambushes Surprise, but Aubrey slips away in the night by using a clever decoy buoy and ships lamps.
Following the privateer south, Surprise rounds Cape Horn and heads to the Galapagos Islands, where Aubrey is sure Acheron will prey on Britain's whaling fleet. The ship's doctor, Maturin, is interested in the islands' fauna and flora; Aubrey promises his friend several days' exploration time. When Surprise reaches the Galapagos they recover the survivors of a whaling ship destroyed by Acheron. Realizing the ship is close, Aubrey hastily pursues the privateer. Maturin feels that Aubrey is going back on his word, and is following Acheron more out of pride than duty, something which Aubrey flatly denies, although not without acknowledging that he has exceeded his orders in pursuit of the privateer.
Marine officer Captain Howard attempts to shoot an albatross, but accidentally hits Maturin. The surgeon's mate informs Aubrey that the bullet and a piece of cloth it took with it must be removed, but the operation should be performed on solid ground. Despite closing on Acheron, Aubrey turns around and takes the doctor back to the Galapagos. Maturin performs surgery on himself using a mirror. Giving up the pursuit of the privateer, Aubrey grants Maturin the chance to explore the island and gather specimens before they head for home. On crossing the island looking for a species of flightless cormorant, the doctor discovers Acheron on the other side of the island. Abandoning most of his specimens, Maturin warns Aubrey, and Surprise readies for battle. Due to Acheron's sturdy hull, Surprise must get in close to deal damage. After observing the camouflage ability of one of Maturin's specimens—a stick insect—Aubrey disguises Surprise as a whaling ship; he hopes the French would move close to capture the valuable ship rather than destroy it. The Acheron falls for the disguise and is disabled. Aubrey leads boarding parties across the wreckage, engaging in fierce hand-to-hand combat before the ship is captured. Looking for the Acheron's captain, Aubrey is directed to the sickbay, where a French doctor tells him the captain is dead and offers Aubrey the commander's sword.
Acheron and Surprise are repaired; while Surprise will remain in the Galapagos, the captured Acheron is to be taken to Valparaíso. As Acheron sails away, Maturin mentions that their doctor had died months ago. Realizing the French captain deceived him by pretending to be the ship's doctor, Aubrey gives the order to beat to quarters and escort Acheron to Valparaíso. Maturin is again denied the chance to explore the Galapagos. Aubrey wryly notes that since the bird Maturin seeks is flightless, "it's not going anywhere", and the two play a selection of Luigi Boccherini as the crew assumes battle stations.
O filme é baseado numa série de novelas:
- Master and Commander (1970)
- Post Captain (1972)
- HMS Surprise (1973)
- The Mauritius Command (1977)
- Desolation Island (1978)
- The Fortune of War (1979)
- The Surgeon's Mate (1980)
- The Ionian Mission (1981)
- Treason's Harbour (1983)
- The Far Side of the World (1984)
- The Reverse of the Medal (1986)
- The Letter of Marque (1988)
- The Thirteen Gun Salute (1989)
- The Nutmeg of Consolation (1991)
- Clarissa Oakes (1992) - (The Truelove in the USA)
- The Wine-Dark Sea (1993)
- The Commodore (1995)
- The Yellow Admiral (1996)
- The Hundred Days (1998)
- Blue at the Mizzen (1999)
- The Final Unfinished Voyage of Jack Aubrey (2004) - (21 in the USA)
escritas por Patrick O'Brien, nom de plume de Richard Patrick Russ, um grande nome da literatura inglesa.
O'Brian's books were written and published in the same chronological sequence as the events as they describe, beginning with Master and Commander in 1800 and carrying through to the final novels, set shortly after Waterloo.
However, they do not strictly follow history. The first six books quickly move through twelve years of the Napoleonic Wars, as established by frequent reference to historical events, with The Fortune of Warending on 1 June 1813 with the battle between the Shannon and Chesapeake. Yet the series then enters a kind of fantasy-time in which it takes another dozen novels to progress to November 1813. Much of this period is spent at sea, with little or no connection to real-world history, and the events of the novels take up substantially more time than the few months 'available'. External historical reference returns withThe Yellow Admiral: towards the beginning of this novel it is stated that the British army under the Duke of Wellington has entered France from Spain, therefore in November 1813. A narrative apparently lasting several months ensues before a specific arrival at Christmas 1813; thereafter the book moves swiftly through the events of Napoleon's last defeats on land, his abdication, his exile to Elba, and it ends with his escape from Elba, which was on 26 February 1815. O'Brian wrote that he had "made use of hypothetical years, rather like those hypothetical moons used in the calculation of Easter: an 1812a as it were or even an 1812b".[7] In effect, the period June–November 1813 is stretched out to accommodate events that ought to occupy five or six years.
