My Favourite Movies: Pirates of the Caribbean – The Curse of the Black Pearl

I knew that I would love this film the second that Captain Jack Sparrow (aka Johnny Depp) stepped off his sinking boat and onto the dockside without breaking step. It was a wonderfully understated scene which set the tone for the rest of the movie. Sparrow (you might have heard of him) is a pirate in the British dominion of Port Royal looking for a ship to steal in order to chase a much bigger prize – the fabled Black Pearl – which used to be his ship until the crew mutinied and left him stranded on a small island. Unfortunately for the crew the gold they had recently acquired was cursed and, for the last ten years, they had been forced to sail the Caribbean as an undead crew of an undying ship unable to eat or feel anything. Only once the curse is lifted can they finally begin to enjoy the benefits of those ten years of plunder. That opportunity is presented to them when young Elizabeth Swann (played fairly well by Keira Knightley) falls into the ocean wearing the last of the cursed gold. Alerted to its presence they attack Port Royal, take the gold as well as Miss Swann. Considered lost even by her loving father, Elizabeth’s would be lover William Turner (a rather badly cast Orlando Bloom), decides that the only way to get her back is to spring Sparrow from jail, steal a ship and sail in pursuit. What they don’t realise, but quickly come to appreciate, is that finding a supernatural ship is difficult enough but fighting a supernatural crew is something quite different!

The first thing that has to be said is that this should never have been made into a trilogy no matter what the financial pressure to do so. As a stand-alone film this works. It is reasonably well plotted, mostly well-acted (the less said about Bloom in particular the better here) and often very funny indeed. The second film, which I and many others made the mistake of seeing, was in my opinion at least was a serious let down. Needless to say I didn’t see the third movie and definitely won’t be seeing the fourth (or fifth if they make one). That now out of the way I can concentrate on why I like the film so much. For one thing I thought it was very well filmed. Being a sucker for cinematography that goes a long way on selling a movie to me. Then there was the parody of the pirate genre which I have long enjoyed. Depp’s Captain Jack Sparrow is so over the top that it creates its own credibility. It’s just so crazy that you have to believe it. Seeing the pirates as the rock stars of the age he played Sparrow as a rock-star…. And it worked brilliantly. Without that central character it just wouldn’t have worked. The film basically revolved around him and Depp had enough screen presence (and more besides) to carry it off. It is by far, going on the movies I’ve seen of his, way and above the best thing I’ve seen him in. Luckily his supporting cast didn’t need to do much to support him. About the only other credible character in the whole film was the mutinous Captain Barbossa (played in almost equally over-the-top fashion by Geoffrey Rush) and it was great fun to watch them play off each other.

I think I saw this at least twice and possibly three times at the cinema. The first time with the usual gang and them again with my friend CQ who is a huge (and I do mean huge) Depp fan. I think that most of the Depp films I’ve seen are because of her. I’m honestly not that impressed. Depp for me tries too hard to be quirky and ends up as being a caricature of himself. He has made a living from being an odd-ball and has been typecast in that role both on and off screen. I remember having a lot of fun watching it the first few times and in my subsequent viewings too – including a few days ago where I still laughed out loud at some bits despite knowing that the joke was coming. If that’s not the sign of a funny film I don’t know what is!  

Cartoon Time.

Thinking About: The ‘M’ Word

Miracles are everywhere these days or so it appears. We have the miracle of birth (actually a very well understood and completely natural process) and miracle escapes from earthquakes when survivors emerge from the rubble days after the event (when the human body is known to have great resources in extremis and we are, at least on occasion, surprisingly hard to kill) or when an individual is found relatively unharmed from a plane or train crash (although it’s not that much of a miracle to those who died or lay in hospital severely injured) and just a few days ago we apparently witnessed a miracle in Kent when over 130 vehicles collided in thick fog without a single fatality. Everyone seemed to hail it as a miracle – despite the fact that it certainly was not.

The thing that made me angry, sad and amused by the discussion of the accident on the BBC breakfast news the next day was the frequent use of the M word – Miracle. Yet almost as soon as it was uttered the qualifications followed. First up was the fact that since the 1970’s fatal road accidents had been steadily reducing to less than 50% of what it was a few decades ago and that this was generally due to two factors – that seat-belts are legally compulsory (and that most people use them) and that motor vehicle technology has been steadily improving over the years making cars ever safer. Air-bags, ABS breaking systems, crumple zones and a host of other innovations have steadily reduced the number of injuries and fatalities in accidents even as extreme as those seen on the Sheppey Crossing in Kent. Another factor not mentioned on that morning after was the lack of HGV collisions in this pile-up. As you can imagine the carnage caused by the impact of Heavy Goods Vehicles into stationary traffic is predictably lethal. Not so in this case as the HGV vehicles involved managed to stop in good time and there is even some evidence that a quick thinking driver blocked the entrance to the overpass preventing more vehicles from entering the accident zone. So the lack of death on that foggy morning was far less of a miracle and far more of an example of our ability and intent to legislate and manufacture safer and safer motor vehicles. Indeed it has been argued that such incidents in the future will become progressively rarer as AEB systems (autonomous emergency braking) - where the car brakes automatically – become more widespread and future HGV are compulsorily fitted with forward collision warnings making such events rarer still.

The M word is used far too much. Its usual definition is “An event that appears inexplicable by the laws of nature and so is held to be supernatural in origin or an act of God” so it does not simply mean that something is unexpected or fortunate. The fact that no one died on the Sheppey Crossing is not inexplicable and does not violate the known laws of nature. Indeed I have yet to hear about any ‘miracle’ that fits that definition. Maybe our news reporters and their talking-head experts should stop using a word they clearly do not understand. Or am I asking for a miracle to occur?

Just Finished Reading: Capitalist Realism – Is There No Alternative? By Mark Fisher (FP: 2009)

The author of this intriguing little book (a mere 81 pages long) starts with an interesting observation – that it appears easier to imagine the end of the world than to imagine the end of Capitalism. Why is that? Part of the reason is, since the collapse of the Soviet Union, there seems to be little practical alternative on offer. China, once a bastion of Communism, is becoming ever more capitalist as the years go by. Countries such as Great Britain, once an example of ‘mixed-economy’, are quickly ditching their state socialist past for a fully-fledged market economy. Partially because of that it would seem that capitalism has colonised the imagination of those living within its warm embrace. Challenged to do so most of us cannot even conceive of another way of running our economies. Does that mean capitalism has reached its very own ‘end of history’? Is this it?

Not so fast, says the author. Have we already forgotten the recent banking crisis that plunged the world into recession/depression? Is that really the sign of an efficient market system reacting to the demands of rational consumers or does it point to something fundamentally flawed at the very heart of capitalism itself? Of course the delicious irony of failed banks and other capitalist enterprises being bailed-out by the State they regularly vilify in some part compensated for the wreckage left behind by their singular failure. But that is not the only crack in the capitalist façade. The author points out several more flaws in the apparent pristine edifice. One is the capitalist general opposition to environmental issues – particularly the idea of sustainable development, an idea which is anathema to capitalist development and exploitation. Another is the medicalization and individualisation of mental issues. Mental ‘illness’ has been increasing in capitalist societies for decades without any agreed upon apparent cause. The focus has been, up until now, on the individual and to ‘correcting’ the apparent chemical imbalances in individual brains. But what if the cause was greater than the individual? What if the cause was social and economic? What if the cause of the growth of mental illness is capitalism itself? Why are we encouraged to look at the effect and not the possible cause? Finally the author points out an apparent contradiction within capitalist societies. As the call for a smaller state and a reduction in state intervention and control increases in volume so does the number, complexity and reach of bureaucratic organisations. The paradox seems to be that you need an ever increasing bureaucracy to run an ever decreasing state apparatus.

Despite its short length this is a meaty tome. Full of fascinating ideas, some of which are (or where for me at least) difficult to get your head around without taking time out to pause, consider, and think things through. Helped along by using examples from modern cinema, books and TV shows, without trivialising the arguments in the least and by person observations made in the Further Education College where he works this is a book that might just make you look at the world around you in a very different way. But be warned, this book will probably dig its hooks in to you and you will be musing over it for weeks or months after you finish the last page. I know I still am. This is my first book from the Zero Publishing house and it won’t be my last. Very much recommended.

Cartoon Time.

Sorry, Kids!

Just Finished Reading: Admirals – The Naval Commanders who Made Britain Great by Andrew Lambert (FP: 2008)

Being an island a mere 26 miles off mainland Europe it should come as no surprise that not only does Britain have a long (indeed very long) maritime history but that, over the centuries, we have fought the other great European nations at sea. To do so effectively the British not only required to produce the ships to fight in and the captains to sail them but over and above everything else they needed the admirals to organise the fleet(s) into effective fighting units. No matter how good individual ships or captains became they would be at a huge disadvantage without efficient organisation at fleet level. The admirals outlined in this impressive volume did just that. The ten men covered here range from gifted amateur to steely professional, from commoner to royalty and covers a period of the last 400 years from Henry VIII to the end of the Second World War. Most of the names, if not the wars, were new to me. Some I recognised, Samuel Hood for example, because of ships named after them which fought in later conflicts. Others, such as John Fisher, David Beatty and Andrew Cunningham, I knew well enough from previous readings of WW1 and WW2 accounts. Of course what did surprise me was a particular absence – Lord Nelson. Thinking about it though I can understand the omission. Nelson was, and still is, a towering figure in British naval history. Adding a chapter in this volume would add little to the countless books and articles written about the great man and would have probably diverted this book away from its intended trajectory.

This is not to say that Nelson is forgotten or is relegated to the function of a ghost wandering the corridors of the Admiralty in Whitehall. Nelson is in fact mentioned time and time again. The admirals who saw action before Nelson was born helped him become a great commander and leader of men. He learnt both from his predecessor’s mistakes and successes. The admirals who followed him learnt from the great man to be aggressive in the face of the enemy and that every effort should be made to annihilate the enemy’s fleet. Only when such annihilation is complete can British interests be safe and trade flow. The lifeblood of the country travels by sea and only total command of that medium, brought about by the destruction of enemy shipping, ensures the survival of the nation. This was true when we fought the Dutch, the Spanish and the French. Each victory over their fleets pushed Britain one more step forward to world domination and to the possession of a global Empire the like of which had not been seen before or since. Of course this all came crashing down at the very height of British sea power at the end of WW2 when the emergent US Navy took centre stage as the most powerful maritime force in the world. But that, as they say, is another story.

Told with great knowledge and a great deal of admiration and affection for the naval service this is a must read for anyone interested in the rise of British power over the last 400-500 years. Full of expert analysis of the events that shaped the nation and the men that helped in the shaping this kept me interested from beginning to end even when the author delved into the intricacies of political manoeuvring both in parliament and the admiralty that often stymied rapid enough progress in an ever changing world. Definitely recommended for the naval history buffs out there.

‘Books are the carriers of civilization. Without books, history is silent, literature dumb, science crippled, thought and speculation at a stand-still. They are engines of change, windows on the world, lighthouses erected in the sea of time.’

Barbara W Tuchman.

Cartoon Time.