THE BOUNTY. Directed by Roger Donaldson; written by Robert Bolt; produced by Bernard Williams for Orion. Starring Anthony Hopkins and Mel Gibson. Rated.
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Take a crew of red-blooded, but repressed, young Englishmen 25,000 miles away from home. Season them with perilous sea adventures and stale food. Then give them a few months in Tahiti, with scantily-clad native girls by the dozens and luaus of tropical fruits every night. Put them to sea again with promise of more peril, monotony and celibacy and voila! Mutiny on the Bounty.
Few "true-life" stories are as generally well-known as the ill-fated voyage of the Bounty. But this current version adds much to the bare bones of the story, which is all its predecessors have usually shown. Viewers who go to The Bounty expecting a swashbuckler will be disappointed. The fun of booing villains and cheering heroes is missing here. But the more interesting characterizations and meticulous historical detail make up for the lack of "shoot-em-up" excitement.
Both Capt. Bligh (Hopkins) and Mr. Christian (Gibson) are complex, realistic characters. Bligh in particular makes a clean break with his image. He is a loving father, superb seaman and, usually, a fair disciplinarian. He does have some troublesome hang-ups regarding morality, but considering the times, he's not particularly prudish. He is also overly concerned with his place in history, but while this may make him insensitive to some extent, it certainly doesn't make him a monster.
Christian, in the Clark Gable mold, is courageous, handsome and popular with the crew. But he is also confused about his feelings (not unexpected in a young man experiencing severe culture shock and true love at the same time) and unable to balance his sense of duty and honor with the new-found freedoms of Tahiti.
Neither character completely has our sympathies, and we are pulled, almost from scene to scene, to root first for one, then the other. Both performances are convincing and compelling. No surprises where Hopkins is concerned, but a pleasant one in Gibson's case. He has shown before that he has the physical qualifications for stardom. Now it's apparent that he has the talent as well.
The fine acting and fascinating interplay between Bligh and Christian would be enough to recommend The Bounty. But there's more. The photography is beautiful, although it would be hard to make some of the movie's locations anything but gorgeous. In addition, the historical details, from the way the sails are furled to the way the British Admiralty inquiry is conducted, are extremely interesting. Moviegoers who like more action in their sea movies may think some of these scenes are too long. But the details gave me a real sense of the sea and sailing, of seductive tropical islands and duty to homeland.
Stories of failed friendships have always been popular. The Bounty shows that its famous story also fits into this category. While it may not measure up to the earlier versions in some respects, it gives an already fascinating adventure a new dimension.
May 16, 1984