Dunkirk

Written and directed by Christopher Nolan, Dunkirk is a dramatic re-telling of the evacuation of Dunkirk during World War II in which three different stories are happening during the course of the event. Told on land, sea, and the air, the film follows the lives of soldiers, pilots, and people from Britain who try to escape from the Germans in Northern France. Starring Fionn Whitehead, Tom Glynn-Carney, Jack Lowden, Harry Styles, Aneurin Barnard, James D’Arcy, Barry Keoghan, Kenneth Branagh, Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy, and Mark Rylance. Dunkirk is a gripping and evocative film from Christopher Nolan.

In 1940 at the Northern-French coast of Dunkirk, thousands of British soldiers are trying to flee the country following France’s defeat to the Germans as naval ships are being sunk with many hoping for a miracle. The film is about this major event in World War II in which many British soldiers are stuck on the beaches of Dunkirk as they’re dealing with German warplanes and forces coming into the city as the French try to hold them off with three different things happening all in the span of a week on land, a day on the sea, and an hour on air. Christopher Nolan’s screenplay is presented in a somewhat non-linear narrative where time is distorted as it showcases what is happening as characters from the different storylines don’t interact in the course of the evacuation. These three different storylines are each given a different title based on its setting as they all would intertwine throughout the course of the film as some of these characters in the different stories would meet with one another to provide some multiple perspectives of what is happening.

The first story entitled The Mole refers to the stranded soldiers on land as they’re trying to evacuate as Commander Bolton (Kenneth Branagh) is watching over the evacuation as he converses Colonel Winnant (James D’Arcy) over what is happening as they believe many of the soldiers will be left behind. Three of these soldiers including Tommy (Fionn Whitehead), Gibson (Aneurin Barnard), and Alex (Harry Styles) struggle to survive as they try to evacuate and endure everything that has been thrown at them. The second story entitled The Sea revolves around what is happening where a mariner in Mr. Dawson (Mark Rylance) and his son Peter (Tom Glynn-Carney) decides to sail to Dunkirk to save the soldiers with the help of Peter’s friend George (Barry Keoghan) where they would pick-up a shell-shocked soldier (Cillian Murphy). In the third story called The Air, two British pilots in Farrier (Tom Hardy) and Collins (Jack Lowden) fight off against German planes and bombers as the former contends with a malfunction in his fuel gauge.

Nolan’s direction is definitely riveting from start to finish as he doesn’t go for anything that showcase who these characters are before what is happening as it’s more about what is happening in Dunkirk and these soldiers trying to survive. Shot on the actual location at Dunkirk beach in France with some of it shot in Great Britain and the Netherlands with the ship interiors shot in the U.S. Nolan decides to create this sense of immediacy and terror that looms throughout the film as it just keeps going where there is no idea what will happen next. Shot on 65mm film and 65mm IMAX film stocks, Nolan would use the wide shots to capture the vastness of the locations including the English Channel to see how big the evacuation was and how many small boats and ships were there to save these soldiers from imminent doom. There are some close-ups and medium shots to display that terror including some hand-held cameras that help create that suspense and terror in scenes where a German plane is flying and ready to attack the soldiers on the beach.

For a film where so much is happening all at the same time or what happened a few minutes before, Nolan doesn’t stray from the human story as he does showcase these small moments that play into characters dealing with what is happening and figuring out how to survive. Whether it’s on a small boat or inside a plane, Nolan always show what these characters are looking into as well as the fact that he never shows the face of the enemy throughout the entirety of the film. There are also these moments amidst this massive shroud of darkness that showcase not just a glimmer of hope but also the sense of good in humanity amidst the plague of fear looming. Especially as Nolan would put in that sense of historical context into how important the evacuation was as a touchstone moment for Britain. Overall, Nolan crafts a thrilling yet rapturous film about the real-life Dunkirk evacuation that was a pivotal moment for Britain’s role in World War II.

Cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema does phenomenal work with the film’s cinematography from the sunny look in some scenes set in the sea to the greyer look of the scenes on land and in the air as well as some nighttime shots with the usage of fire for lighting specifics. Editor Lee Smith does incredible work with the editing with its usage of jump-cuts and some stylish non-linear cutting that help provide different perspective of the events that happen in the film as it is a highlight of the film. Production designer Nathan Crowley, with set decorators Emmanuel Delis and Gary Fettis plus supervising art directors Kevin Ishioka and Eggert Ketilsson, does excellent work with the look of the interior of some of the naval ships as well as Mr. Dawson’s ship and the decayed pier at the Dunkirk beach. Costume designer Jeffrey Kurland does superb work with the costumes as it is mostly some army and naval uniforms which Commander Bolton wears in the latter.

Special effects supervisors Ian Corbould and Paul Corbould, along with visual effects supervisor Andrew Jackson, does fantastic work with the usage of practical effects for some of the aerial scenes with a few bits of computer-based effects for set dressing and crowd scenes. Sound editor Richard King does brilliant work with the sound to create a sense of atmosphere from the sound of planes flying in the air to the sound of torpedoes and bomb as the sound is often filled with terror as it is another of the film’s highlights. The film’s music by Hans Zimmer is amazing for its orchestral-based score with its offbeat arrangements in the percussions and sound as it help play into the suspense with some more somber pieces in the drama as it is one of Zimmer’s finest scores of his career.

The casting by John Papsidera and Toby Whale is great as it does feature a couple of notable small roles from Jochum ten Haaf as a Dutch seaman and the voice of Michael Caine as a radio communications man talking to Farrier and Collins. Jack Lowden is superb as the air force pilot Collins as a man trying to do whatever he can to stop the Germans from sinking ships and kill soldiers as he would also have a moment of terror of his own. Tom Hardy is excellent as Farrier as an air force pilot who is dealing with the malfunction of his fuel gauge as he is aware of how low he is on fuel but knows what he has to do as he doesn’t show much of his face except his eyes to show what must be done. Fionn Whitehead is fantastic as the young soldier Tommy who is the first character shown in the film as someone dealing with trying to survive while Harry Styles is wonderful as Alex as another young soldier who is also trying to survive but also has suspicions toward something that he feels is off. Aneurin Barnard is terrific as Gibson as a young soldier who is also trying to survive as he spends much of the film not saying very much.

Barry Keoghan is amazing as a 15-year old boy in George who helps Mr. Dawson and his son in retrieving soldiers on the sea while Tom Glynn-Carney is brilliant as Mr. Dawson’s son Peter as a young man who is helping his father as well as converse with those he saves. Mark Rylance is marvelous as Mr. Dawson as a civilian who decides to go to Dunkirk with his son and George in an act to help soldiers without having the navy to take his boat as he is aware of what is at stake. Cillian Murphy is incredible as a shell-shocked soldier Mr. Dawson saves as he copes with what he’s experienced as he’s in a state of shock. James D’Arcy is remarkable as Colonel Winnant as an officer trying to make sense of what is going on as well as wondering what is next for Britain in World War II. Finally, there’s Kenneth Branagh in a phenomenal performance as Commander Bolton as a naval officer trying to manage the evacuation as well as pondering if there is some form of miracle as his performance is just the most touching in the way he reacts to that glimmer of hope.

Dunkirk is an outstanding film from Christopher Nolan. Featuring a great ensemble cast, dazzling visuals, top-notch technical work in the editing and sound, Hans Zimmer’s enthralling score, and an inventive script that creates a sense of terror and intrigue. It’s a war film that just goes head on into what is happening as it’s told in multiple perspective from the soldiers stuck at the beach, on sea, and air to the civilians who travel from their homeland to bring their boys back home. In the end, Dunkirk is a magnificent film from Christopher Nolan.

Christopher Nolan Films: Following - Memento - Insomnia (2002 film) - Batman Begins - The Prestige - The Dark Knight - Inception - The Dark Knight Rises - Interstellar - Tenet - Oppenheimer - The Auteurs #13: Christopher Nolan

© thevoid99 2017

Cloud Atlas

Based on the novel by David Mitchell, Cloud Atlas is the story about human beings being connected to one another in various places in time from the past to the future as they all deal with their role in humanity. Written for the screen and directed by Lana and Andy Wachowski and Tom Tykwer, the film is an epic story that bends all sorts of genres. With an all-star cast playing multiple roles that includes Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Hugh Grant, Hugo Weaving, Jim Sturgess, Ben Whishaw, Doona Bae, Susan Sarandon, Jim Broadbent, James D’Arcy, David Gyasi, Zhou Xun, David Gyasi, and Keith David. Cloud Atlas is a captivating yet exhilarating film from Tom Tykwer and the Wachowskis.

In the 1850s, a young notary named Adam Ewing (Jim Sturgess) travels to the Pacific Islands to discover a plantation run by Reverend Gilles Horrox (Hugh Grant) as it consists of slaves. Upon his return home to San Francisco, Ewing discovers a young slave named Autua (David Gyasi) who stows away on the ship as the ailing Ewing recalls his experience in a journal. In 1930s Belgium, a young musician named Robert Frobisher (Ben Whishaw) writes many letters to his lover Rufus Sixsmith (James D’Arcy) where he works as an amanuensis for the aging composer Vyvyan Ayrs (Jim Broadbent) where they collaborate on a musical piece together. In the 1970s, a San Franciscan journalist named Luisa Rey (Halle Berry) meets the aging Sixsmith where she discovers a chilling mystery about an oil magnate Lloyd Hooks(Hugh Grant) trying to manipulate the energy crisis as a hitman named Bill Smoke (Hugo Weaving) is after her.

In 2012 London, book publisher Timothy Cavendish (Jim Broadbent) is in big trouble over mounting debts to gangsters as he turns to his older brother Denholme (Hugh Grant) for help. Instead, Denholme tricks Timothy to live in a retirement home where Timothy has to deal with the cruel nurse Noakes (Hugo Weaving) as he fights for freedom. In the futuristic South Korea, a genetically-created clone named Sonmi-451 learns about her dystopian world as she meets a young rebel named Hae-Joo Chang (Jim Sturgess) where they decide to create rebellion. In a more distant future, a tribesman named Zachry takes a technologically-advanced woman named Meronym (Halle Berry) to an old palace to find meaning in their world so they can save humanity from an evil tribe and other dark forces.

The film is essentially a multi-layered, inter-weaving collection of stories of people making decisions that would change their own fates as well as the fate of others through six different periods of time. Through the recollection of one individual’s story, one character would discover that person’s story that would inspire something of their own that would eventually inspire another and so on. In these moments where they would discover these stories or pieces of work by a certain person, it would allow a character from different stories to be motivated to do something as it would eventually give them a chance to do something that would help humanity.

The screenplay by Tom Tykwer and the Wachowskis is truly dazzling for the way the narrative moves from one story to another in this inter-weaving style where it adds up to the dramatic momentum of the film. Even as they would provide moments that would play up the suspense of another story and so on. It’s part of the schematics that Tykwer and the Wachowskis wanted to create while slowing things down so that characters can find ways to connect with one another to feel something as if there’s a chance to really do something great. Yet, each protagonist in these six different stories would make decisions that could impact something that would become a key moment of their lives and would set the stage for another.

The direction of Tykwer and the Wachowskis is vast in terms of the presentation they wanted to create for this massive film. With Tykwer directing the two segments in the 20th Century and the 2012 segment while the Wachowskis helm the 19th Century story and the ones set in the future. The filmmakers give each story a chance to set out on their own as they each provide broad visuals to establish the world these characters live in. Notably as these segments also have moments of intimacy to help flesh the characters out even more in their development. Since the film is really a genre-bender that features elements of sci-fi, adventure, drama, comedy, romance, and suspense. It is still about people and the adventures they go into and how they deal with these opposing forces.

For the 20th Century and 2012 segments, Tykwer pretty much keep things straightforward in terms of the presentation though he does shoot scenes with elements of style. Even as he find ways to put every actor who plays multiple roles a chance to pop up every now and then. Tykwer also utilizes bits of humor in the stories as well as some truly jaw-dropping moments such as a scene where Frobisher and Sixsmith stand and freeze while china plates drop all over them. In the 19th Century and futuristic segments, the Wachowskis go all out in terms of the ambition where they create massive sceneries for their segments. Notably the future where it is awash with visual effects to showcase a world that is unique but also unsettling.

Particularly as it establishes the sense of chaos and mistakes humans made where it plays into the most furthest futuristic segment forcing one character to do something to bring some semblance of hope. Overall, Tywker and the Wachowskis create a truly grand yet engaging film about human connection and how they impact one another in different periods of time.

Cinematographers Frank Griebe and John Toll do amazing work with the film‘s photography from the naturalistic look of 19th Century and beyond future segments to the more stylish array of lighting schemes in the 20th Century scenes and the dystopian Seoul segment. Editor Alexander Berner does excellent work with the editing to create unique rhythms for the film‘s suspenseful and action moments as well as creating montages for certain scenes as well as intricate transitions to move from one story to another. Production designers Hugh Bateup and Uli Hanisch, along with set decorator Rebecca Alleway and Peter Walpole and supervising art directors Stepan O. Gessler, Kai Koch, and Charlie Revai, do spectacular work with the set pieces from the ship in the 19th Century, the homes in the 20th and 21st Century segment, and the futuristic places in the future-Seoul segment.

Costume designers Kym Barrett and Pierre-Yves Gayraud do wonderful work with the costumes to play up the very different periods of time that occur in each segment including the more stylish clothes in the dystopian Seoul segment. Makeup and hair designers Heike Merker and Daniela Skala do great work with the hair and makeup to have every actor look a different way in the various segments and play different races and nationalities in the course of the film. Visual effects supervisors Dan Glass and Stephane Ceretti do terrific work with the film‘s visual effects for segments involving Frobisher, the dystopian Seoul segment, and the beyond future scenes. Sound designer Markus Stemler and sound editor Alexander Buck do superb work in the sound to capture the different atmosphere of each location and world the characters inhabit.

The film’s music by Tom Tykwer, Reinhold Heil, and Johnny Klimek is brilliant for its low-key, orchestral-driven score to play out the very different worlds that take place in the film along with some touching piano-driven themes in scenes involving Frobisher and Ayrs. The soundtrack also includes an array of music that plays up in two segments such as the Luisa Rey segment and the Timothy Cavendish segments.

The casting by Lora Kennedy and Lucinda Syson is incredible for the large ensemble that is created where the actors get to play multiple roles. Notable small performances include Robert Fyfe as the old seadog and Mr. Meeks, Brody Nicholas Lee as Luisa’s neighbor Javier and Zachry’s nephew, Raevan Lee Hanan as Zachry’s child Catkin, and Martin Wuttke as Cavendish’s friend Mr. Boerhavve and a healer in Zachry’s tribe. Other noteworthy small parts include terrific performances from Keith David as Horrox’s servant/a friend of Luisa’s dad/a rebel leader/a futuristic chief, Zhou Xun as Zachry’s wife/a relative of Sixsmith/Sonmi-451’s friend, David Gyasi as the stowaway slave Autua/Luisa’s father/an associate of Meronym, and James D’Arcy as Rufus Sixsmith and a man who interrogates Sonmi-451.

Jim Sturgess is superb as the young notary Adam Ewing as well as in smaller roles as a father of Sixsmith’s relative, Zachry’s brother-in-law, a highlander, and the rebellious Hae-Joo Chang. Ben Whishaw is superb as the melancholic Robert Frobisher as well as other small roles as a seaman, a record shop owner, and Denholme’s wife. Jim Broadbent is great as a sea captain, the very selfish Vyvyan Ayrs, a lab professor, a futuristic leader, a Korean musician, and as the troubled Timothy Cavendish. Susan Sarandon is wonderful as Rev. Horrox’s wife, a tribal witch, and Cavendish’s lost love. Hugh Grant is stellar as Reverend Horrox, a hotel tenant, the slimy oilman Lloyd Hooks, Timothy’s prankster brother, a perverse drug addict, and an evil tribe chief. Hugo Weaving is brilliant as Ewing’s father-in-law, a music conductor, the evil hitman Bill Smoke, a big nurse, a dystopian leader, and a demon who haunts Zachry.

Doona Bae is amazing as the clone Sonmi-451 who becomes part of a rebellion to stop a dystopian Seoul as she also plays other small roles such as Ewing’s wife and a Mexican woman who helps Luisa. Halle Berry is marvelous as the determined journalist Luisa Rey as well as notable small roles as a native woman, Ayrs’ wife, an Indian woman at a party, a Korean doctor, and a woman of the future in Meronym. Tom Hanks is remarkable as the tribe warrior Zachry who deals with demons and his tribe’s future while he also plays small roles as the devious Dr. Goose, a hotel manager, a thuggish writer, and a scientist who falls for Luisa.

Cloud Atlas is a spectacular film from Tom Tykwer and the Wachowskis that explores the world of humanity and its many connections. While it’s not an easy film in terms of its ambition and big themes, it is still an engaging one for the way it explores these themes in such grand stories. It’s also a film that has something for everyone and isn’t afraid to take big risks while featuring an amazing collective of actors. In the end, Cloud Atlas is an extraordinary film from Tom Tykwer and the Wachowskis.

The Wachowskis Films: (Bound) - (The Matrix) - (The Matrix Reloaded) - (The Matrix Revolution) - Speed Racer

Tom Tykwer Films: (Deadly Maria) - (Winter Sleepers) - Run Lola Run - (The Princess and the Warrior) - (Heaven (2002 film)) - True (2004 short) - (Perfume: The Story of a Murderer) - (The International) - (Three (2010 film))

© thevoid99 2012

Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World

Originally Written and Posted at Epinions.com on 1/16/10 w/ Additional Edits.

2003 saw the return of old-school naval combat with the surprising success of Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl. It seemed like swashbuckling and sword fights were back in but later that year, another film came out with the idea of naval combat. Instead of being about pirates, the project was based on a series of novels by Patrick O'Brian about the relationship between naval captain Jack Aubrey and the ship's surgeon Stephen Maturin set during the Napoleonic Wars in the early 1800s. The first novel that was published in 1969 called Master and Commander during a battle between the English and French. The novel along with two more would be adapted into a project by famed Australian director Peter Weir entitled Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World.

Directed by Peter Weir with a screenplay by Weir and John Collee. Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World tells the story of a British naval captain who is pursuing a French merchant ship. During the pursuit and eventual battle, the captain deals with his crew and their surgeon along with the enemy ship that proves to be superior to its own. A film about strategies and how a captain and crew converse with another. It is considered to be one of the best told tales about naval combat. Starring Russell Crowe, Paul Bettany, James D'Arcy, Billy Boyd, Max Pirkis, and George Innes. Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World is a brilliant, ambitious, and intelligent masterpiece from Peter Weir.

It's 1805 in the south of the Brazilian coast as the HMS Surprise is on pursuit of a French merchant ship known as the Acheron in order to burn, sink, or claim it as a prize. On a foggy day, midshipman Hollom (Lee Ingleby) sees an object shaped like a big ship covered by the fog. Though Hollom is uncertain, the news reaches the ship's Captain Jack Aubrey (Russell Crowe) who goes for a look when they are suddenly attacked by the Acheron which is revealed to be a bigger ship with more cannons and guns as it heavily damages the Surprise and killing nine men in the process. Among the wounded is the young midshipman William Blakeney (Max Pirkis) who got shot in the arm.

Aubrey orders his coxswain Barrett Bonden (Billy Boyd) to sail the ship into the fog so they can get away from the Acheron which they succeed but the Surprise is inflicted with a lot of damage. With the ship's surgeon/naturalist Stephen Maturin (Paul Bettany) tending to the wounded including the young Blakeney. Aubrey and his officers try to figure out what to do next in order to repair the ship since they can't go back to England as they're still on the hunt for the Acheron. After a young crew member named Warley (Joseph Morgan) shows Aubrey a model of the Acheron that he had seen being built in America. Aubrey realizes what he is up against as he knows what its weakness is but figures it might not be enough.

After a repair and a stop at a nearby island for food supplies, the Acheron surprises them yet again with Aubrey and crew hoping to get away from them miles and miles away until nightfall. A decoy is built to distract the ship using small sailing towers and lanterns for the distraction. The strategy succeeds as Aubrey and Maturin figure out what to do next along with several officers including Blakeney, sailing master Mr. Allen (Robert Pugh), First Lieutenant Tom Pulling (James D'Arcy), Captain Howard of the Marines (Chris Larkin), and another young midshipman in Peter Myles Calamy (Max Benitz) for a dinner where Aubrey talks about his own naval experiences. Realizing they're being the Acheron, Aubrey and his men have a chance to go after them but a treacherous storm would only lead to dire consequences that would bring conflict to Aubrey's persona of being a captain following his duties and a man who is beloved by his crew.

The incident would bring some bad luck for the men and their morale until a stop at the Galapagos Islands has Maturin excited in researching the islands for naturalistic reasons as Aubrey promises that Maturin would get the chance to look at it for several days. Instead, the Surprise encounter surviving whalers led by Mr. Hogg (Mark Lewis Jones) would make Aubrey want to pursue the Acheron much to Maturin's dismay. Yet, rising heat and dipping morale has one of the ship's crew members in an old seaman named Joe Plaice (George Innes) who believes there's a Jonah. Many are looking towards Hollom who some felt has made the ship cursed which only disturbs the troubled officer. Aubrey tries to maintain order as he ends up punishing a crewman in Joseph Nagle (Bryan Dick) but it would cause more trouble.

After a day of rain that raises morale again, an accidental shooting has Maturin wounded where the ship's other surgeon Mr. Higgins (Richard McCabe) is forced to perform surgery on Maturin. Yet, realizing that a proper surgery could work on land, Aubrey decides to live up to his promise to Maturin where the surgery becomes a success. Maturin, Blakeney, and Aubrey's steward Killick (David Threlfall) explore the island and all of its creatures where a discovery Maturin makes along with a creature that Blakeney learned about earlier would give Aubrey an idea to attack the Acheron.

While the film is about strategy and a captain's pursuit to attack a ship that is far superior to his own. It's really a whole lot more. While Captain Aubrey is a man devoted to duty and what he has to do for his country. He's also a man treats his crew no matter how big or small they are like equals. Yet, like all captains. He has to make decisions of what he has to do for survival. Even if the costs are great. At one point, he had a chance to save a man's life but at the risk of his own ship where he's reflected by the decisions he makes and it's never easy.

The screenplay that director Peter Weir and co-screenwriter John Collee is truly complex. Not only for Aubrey's complexity as a character and as a man. It's also about he treats his crew along with his own friendship with Stephen Maturin, the ship's surgeon. Maturin is a man who plays a conscience of sorts for Aubrey where they would argue privately so Aubrey can maintain his role as a leader. Even when Aubrey's leadership is tested. Yet, Maturin is a man who is interested in nature where at one point. His love of nature and animals would get him into a bit of trouble. Still, Maturin is a man who is just as complex as Aubrey where they're the two personalities that drive the story.

Weir and Collee also gives the audience a chance to get to know various crew members and their own interaction with the two main characters. Yet, it's all about how a captain and a crew deal with the enemy in this cat and mouse game of sorts. It's a film that is about a lot of things as Weir and Collee create a fantastic script that is about the battle and how a captain must try to do his duty even if he has to face events that would test his own morality and role as a leadership.

Weir's direction is truly fascinating in its huge, epic vision. The film is meant to look big yet Weir makes it more than just a simple action/adventure piece. Yet, there's moments where Weir maintains a sense of intimacy or at times, claustrophobia about what's going on inside the ship. The ship is a character that is important than the people on the ship along with the Acheron that is the antagonist where the audience doesn't see the crew of that ship until its climatic battle. Weir also has these long yet amazing compositions to let the audience know where it's being shot at the open sea with some real island locations.

The scenes at the Galapagos islands and other locations have a sense of beauty that is reminiscent of the work of Terrence Malick. Notably for the fact that it plays up to the character of Maturin's own fascination with nature. What Weir does for parts of the second and third act is give the audience a break from the action and give them a chance for them to be engaged by the characters and their own personalities. Even let a man like Aubrey get away from his role as captain for a while. The mesmerizing yet epic direction that Weir does show a man who is clearly at the top of his game as a director.

Cinematographer Russell Boyd does spectacular with the film's award-winning cinematography which is truly deserving. Boyd's gorgeous exterior shots of the Galapagos Islands with daytime and evening light scenes that is truly reminiscent of the work of Terrence Malick. Boyd's camera work inside the Surprise in its nighttime scenes are very intimate with a bit of mid-lit looks in the officer's dining room while the look of the crew's bunkers are very low-lit with lanterns being used. The nighttime exteriors of the ships are wonderful in its dark mood while the day time is truly expansive and epic in its scope. Boyd's work is truly an amazing technical highlight of the film.

Editor Lee Smith does excellent work with the film's break-pace editing for many of the film's intense action sequences. Yet, Smith also succeed in maintaining a pace, though a bit slow, is deliberate for the audience to be engaged into the characters and drama that goes on with the ship's crew. Even as it has a film that feels like a long epic but makes sure it doesn't feel too long in its 138-minute running time. Production designer William Sandell along with set decorator Robert Gould and a team of art directors do an amazing job with the film's set design on the ship of the HMS Surprise. The look of the ship is brilliant in its scale along with the claustrophobic look of the bunkers and the place where the cannons are. The art direction overall is another brilliant achievement in the film's technical field.

Costume designer Wendy Stites does an excellent job with the look of the uniforms that the officers wear along with the ragged clothing of the crew as it has a real sense of authenticity and grittiness to the film. Visual effects supervisors Mitchell S. Drain, Stefen Fangmeier, Nathan McGuinness, and Marc Varisco does fantastic work with the visual effects for parts of the ship and moments of destruction along with the look of the treacherous storm that the Surprise encounters. Sound designer Richard King does great work in the film's sound for the use of intense action sequences, the calm atmosphere of the wavy sea, and the lush tone of the Galapagos islands as the sound work is phenomenal.

The music score by Iva Davies, Christopher Gordon, and Richard Tognetti bring a mesmerizing yet bombastic score that plays to various sections for action sequences with more somber orchestral arrangements for the film's dramatic scenes. A lot of the film's music features pieces by Amadeus, Bach, and Luigi Boccherini along with sea chanteys to maintain a rich soundtrack that is a mixture of traditional and classical music.

The casting by Mary Selway and Fiona Weir is superb in its large ensemble with several actors standing out. Among them are Ousmane Thiam as Killick's cooking assistant, Mark Lewis Jones as Mr. Hogg, Joseph Morgan as the carpenter William Warley, Bryan Dick as Warley's friend Nagle, Richard McCabe as the ship's other surgeon Mr. Higgins, and Chris Larkin as the Marine captain Howard. Billy Boyd, known many as Pippin of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, is very good as the ship's no-nonsense coxswain Barrett Bonden while George Innes is really good as paranoid Joe Plaice. Lee Ingleby is fantastic as the tortured midshipman Hollom while Max Benitz is excellent as the young Calamy. Robert Pugh is wonderful as the ship's sailing master Mr. Allen while Max Pirkis is brilliant as the young Blakeney, a young boy who is both a fighter like Captain Aubrey but also a sensitive naturalist like Maturin. James D'Arcy is also brilliant as Lt. Pullings, a young officer who tries to maintain order while learning from someone as complex as Aubrey.

Paul Bettany is superb in what is truly an outstanding supporting role as Stephen Maturin, the ship's surgeon and naturalist. Bettany's calm, sensitive performance is wonderfully understated while he does show emotion in intense scenes he has with Russell Crowe where the two have a great sense of rapport with each other. Russell Crowe is brilliant as Captain Jack Aubrey with a towering, larger-than-life persona that is complex in its presence. Crowe's performance is also understated in some places of how he treats his crew and officers quite equally with a bit of humor and playfulness. Crowe, who is often very serious in his performances, here loosens up a bit while proving to be an adept violinist in his scenes with Bettany, who plays cello that shows the great rapport between the two.

Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World is a sprawling yet spectacular film from Peter Weir featuring great performances by Russell Crowe and Paul Bettany. Fans of Weir's work will no doubt see this as one of his finest while it also features what is probably Russell Crowe's best work as an actor. Fans of naval combat films will definitely be amazed for its complexity as well as camaraderie between officers and crew. Even as the film is something worth revisiting for those who missed it the first time around when it was released in late 2003. It is a rare big-budgeted Hollywood film that is both filled with substance and style while being entertaining and insightful. In the end, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World is a mesmerizing yet epic film from Peter Weir and company.

Peter Weir Films: (3 to Go-Michael) – (Homesdale) – (Whatever Happened to Green Valley?) - (The Cars That Ate Paris) - Picnic at Hanging Rock - (The Last Wave) - The Plumber (1979 TV film) - Gallipoli - The Year of Living Dangerously - (Witness) - (The Mosquito Coast) - Dead Poets Society - (Green Card) - (Fearless) - (The Truman Show) - The Way Back

© thevoid99 2011