October 28th: MASTER AND COMMANDER (Peter Weir, 2003)

In the early 1800s, the captain of a British naval vessel is charged with capturing a new French ship near the bottom tip of South America.

British writer Patrick O'Brian is the man behind the bestselling historical fiction series Master and Commander, encompassing 20+ novels written between 1969 and 1999 and primarily set during the Napoleonic Wars. The books are known for their period and nautical detail and the richly drawn characters of Captain Jack Aubrey and ship's doctor Stephen Maturin.

Australian director Peter Weir is known for his landmark local feature Picnic At Hanging Rock as well as later Hollywood films The Truman Show and Dead Poets Society. Despite his critical and industry standing, it took three film studios combined efforts to mount a prestige adaptation of O'Brian's material: Fox, Universal, and Miramax.

Working with Scottish writer John Collee, Weir's script draws primarily from the 1984 novel The Far Side Of The World, with other scenes and elements taken from other books in the series. One major (and controversial) change was to change the nationality of the enemy vessel from American to French, done to avoid offending American audiences.

Weir drafted the co-stars from recent Oscar-success A Beautiful Mind, Russell Crowe and Paul Bettany. While the two already had a healthy rapport, Crowe made additional efforts on set to encourage bonding between the ship's crew members of the cast. At the same time, they were also asked to wear certain colors of clothing respective to their on-screen rank at all times, a method acting approach to portray a believable, lived-in hierarchy.

The film was shot by Weir's longtime cinematographer Russell Boyd, primarily at the local Fox Studio in Rosarito, Mexico containing the enormous water tank where Titanic was made, and at sea off the coast of Baja California. Additional on location footage was done on the Galápagos Islands (the first feature film shot there), and an auxiliary unit sent to film an actual replica ship rounding Cape Horn at the time.

The replica of the famous HMS Rose was discovered by Weir at a ship festival and purchased for use in the film as Aubrey's ship the HMS Surprise. A smaller replica was built exclusively for use in the water tank set. The cast took training classes together on basic sailing techniques, military maneuvers, and swordfighting. Crowe learned to play the violin in keeping with his described character, and Bettany studied historical medical instruments and procedures at London's Royal College of Surgeons.

The film was released in November to positive reviews, with raves from many prominent critics. It received various end-of-year citations, as well as 10 Academy Award nominations including Best Picture and Direction. Despite the dominance of The Return Of The King, it managed to win Oscars for Boyd's cinematography and Sound Effects Editing.

Running time is approx. 2 hrs, 15 min.