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Mutiny on the bounty ( 1962 )
This movie is based on a real life mutiny on a British ship named Bounty in 1787 . As the ship sets sail from Britain soon it is clear that the captain is an excessively harsh person who inflicts savage punishments for the slightest misdemeanours . Sailors are lashed by whips till they are half dead . This does not go down well with either the crew or second in command lieutenant Fletcher Christian ( Marlon Brando ) . but they have no choice but to keep quiet .
The ship reaches Tahiti in the pacific , where the natives are friendly and above all Tahitian women believe in free love which is taken advantage of by the ship's crew to the fullest . They all get Tahitian girlfriends and one of them falls in love with one of the women and asks the captain his permission for marriage . But the harsh captain calls her a slut and refuses , though it is the only time he ever laughs in the movie . Fletcher himself is in a relationship with a lovely Tahitian woman---Princess Maimiti ( Tarita Teriipaia ) the daughter of the Tahitian chief , but he keeps his head and says goodbye to her as the ship readies to leave .
The ship's task is to transport breadfruit plants to Jamaica , and the captain loads the ship with too many of them . Worse , they require lot of water to nurse them and the captain cuts water rations of the sailors for watering the plants . As sailors begin to die pining for water to drink , Fletcher is under increasing pressure to take command of the ship . Finally as the captain refuses water to a sailor who has begun to drink seawater and is dying , Fletcher mutinies and takes command of the ship with the aid of those who are ready to revolt . But he is a humane man who refuses to kill the captain though the captain is after his blood and would have court martialled him and sent him to the gallows if the mutiny had not succeeded .
The captain and those refusing to join the revolt are put on a lifeboat and they sail to Britain where the inquiry commission exonerates him but censure his captaincy . The Royal navy is asked to search for the mutinous crew and bring them to trial .
Fletcher and the mutineers reach Tahiti again and take help of their girlfriends and some Tahitian men to search for an inhabitable island where they can settle down far from the prying eyes of the royal navy , finally settling down on Pitcairn island which has been wrongly mapped by the British . But the conscience of Fletcher is increasingly affected by his position . As he tells the crew , they may not be locked in a jail but they are locked out of society . He wants to return to face trial in Britain . But some mutineers who are scared that he might force them to return set fire to the ship and Fletcher dies a tragic death trying to save the ship .
The music of the film is loud and over dramatic though enthralling , blaring loudly even in moments of trivial drama . Photography however is good and there are good shots of the ship silhouetted against the setting sun and of storms and heavy weather on the rough seas with huge waves rocking the ship , and also of the ship's sail billowing in the wind . Acting is decent by everyone . I was hooked on to the major portion of the film and the tragic ending filled me with pathos .
Verdict---Good .
Four stars out of five .
This movie is based on a real life mutiny on a British ship named Bounty in 1787 . As the ship sets sail from Britain soon it is clear that the captain is an excessively harsh person who inflicts savage punishments for the slightest misdemeanours . Sailors are lashed by whips till they are half dead . This does not go down well with either the crew or second in command lieutenant Fletcher Christian ( Marlon Brando ) . but they have no choice but to keep quiet .
The ship reaches Tahiti in the pacific , where the natives are friendly and above all Tahitian women believe in free love which is taken advantage of by the ship's crew to the fullest . They all get Tahitian girlfriends and one of them falls in love with one of the women and asks the captain his permission for marriage . But the harsh captain calls her a slut and refuses , though it is the only time he ever laughs in the movie . Fletcher himself is in a relationship with a lovely Tahitian woman---Princess Maimiti ( Tarita Teriipaia ) the daughter of the Tahitian chief , but he keeps his head and says goodbye to her as the ship readies to leave .
The ship's task is to transport breadfruit plants to Jamaica , and the captain loads the ship with too many of them . Worse , they require lot of water to nurse them and the captain cuts water rations of the sailors for watering the plants . As sailors begin to die pining for water to drink , Fletcher is under increasing pressure to take command of the ship . Finally as the captain refuses water to a sailor who has begun to drink seawater and is dying , Fletcher mutinies and takes command of the ship with the aid of those who are ready to revolt . But he is a humane man who refuses to kill the captain though the captain is after his blood and would have court martialled him and sent him to the gallows if the mutiny had not succeeded .
The captain and those refusing to join the revolt are put on a lifeboat and they sail to Britain where the inquiry commission exonerates him but censure his captaincy . The Royal navy is asked to search for the mutinous crew and bring them to trial .
Fletcher and the mutineers reach Tahiti again and take help of their girlfriends and some Tahitian men to search for an inhabitable island where they can settle down far from the prying eyes of the royal navy , finally settling down on Pitcairn island which has been wrongly mapped by the British . But the conscience of Fletcher is increasingly affected by his position . As he tells the crew , they may not be locked in a jail but they are locked out of society . He wants to return to face trial in Britain . But some mutineers who are scared that he might force them to return set fire to the ship and Fletcher dies a tragic death trying to save the ship .
The music of the film is loud and over dramatic though enthralling , blaring loudly even in moments of trivial drama . Photography however is good and there are good shots of the ship silhouetted against the setting sun and of storms and heavy weather on the rough seas with huge waves rocking the ship , and also of the ship's sail billowing in the wind . Acting is decent by everyone . I was hooked on to the major portion of the film and the tragic ending filled me with pathos .
Verdict---Good .
Four stars out of five .
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