usatoday24
2003 was the year of ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King’that of the first movie of ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’, ‘Terminator 3’ and The double of ‘Matrix’ on the billboards with the launch of ‘Reloaded’ in May and ‘Revolutions’ months later. In the middle of that Thaquillazos drizzle With millionaire collections, movie theaters welcomed another great success of success much more discreet (although success after all): ‘Master and Commander’the tape of Peter Weir in which a russel crowe freshly raised by ‘Gladiator’ Encarna Captain Jack Aubrey.
His box office box touched the 212 million of dollars, enough to cover the budget (150) and leave a good mattress, but not to encourage producers to bet on a second part or (Still, at least) a prequel. With the time ‘Master and Commander’, however, something much more complicated has achieved: becoming a classic with a good community of followers (many of them men) fascinated by their plot and character. And it makes all the meaning.
When time helps. There are films that the passage of time feels like a bathroom with bleach. It dazzles and corrode. And then there are others that win the varnish of the classics. ‘Master and Commander’ is one of the last. Not for a simple matter of subjective criteria. No. It comes quickly for Google, X or Reddit To verify that almost 22 years after its premiere (they will be fulfilled in November) it continues to generate conversation, with a large legion of fans who continue to review the film to get new readings.
Click on the image to go to Tweet.
It’s cinema … and it’s philosophy. It is not just that his level of approval in Rotten Tomatoes for example exceed 80% or occasionally News arise On the plans to roll a prequel. Throughout the last years Peter Weir’s film has starred in broad analysis in media such as GQ, The conversation, The Guardian, Den of Geek either Literally Hub (the latter with a February piece) that go beyond the technical aspects, the actions or the plot of the film to focus on its background, especially in its representation of masculinity, friendship and leadership.
The key was given by Gabriella Paiella in A broad article Posted in 2023 in GQ With the title “Why are there so many boys obsessed with ‘Master and Commander’?” The answer was recently given in X (confirming his premise) David French, columnist of New York Times: “Because it is perfect and amazing and everyone should see it 100 times.” French is not alone in that opinion. Even today, 22 years after the premiere of the film in theaters, they are Recent references and comments praiseful In X.
Why’s that? For several reasons. The main one is probably the readings and messages that advance in parallel to the plot. Recall: ‘Master and Commander’ is an epic movie that adapts the novels of Patric O’Brian And he tells us how, with the Napoleonic wars as a backdrop, the British frigate HMS Surprise looks for the French ship Acheron in the Pacific Ocean. Crowe embodies Jack Aubrey, captain of the frigate of the British Royal Navy. The other key character is his friend, the naturalist and doctor Sthepen Maturin, played by Pablo Bettany.
But above all the real attraction of the film, beyond its action or landscape scenes, is the environment that recreates and the relationships between its protagonists. Moreover, there is who says That at times the tape becomes “a pure study of characters”, in which the persecution of the Acheron ship is in the background in favor of what is really important: friendship between Aubrey and Maturin.
A ship movie … and friendship. In 2023 Matilda Hatcher, of the Australian National University (ANU) summarized it clearly in An essay About the movie. What attracts so many spectators more than 20 years later is the link of Aubrey and Maturin and the representation of masculinity. “They are not necessarily nautical adventures that attract men, but healthy and affectionate male relationships,” Comment.
That message connects With people who saw the movie in his day, being a teenager, and now he faces a new vital stage, advanced thirty or fulfilled 40, in which the film brings him new valuesand readings.
“The interpretation that Crowe and Bettany make of the friendship between two men is up to this art (…). Much of the lasting attractiveness of the film lies in that representation of the male closeness,” agrees Martin Pengely in The Guardian. “In my opinion, a middle -aged man whose most intimate friends live more than 5,000 km, ‘Master and Commander’ presents an inspiring vision of vital relations for health and happiness.”
A concept: “positive masculinity”. That is probably the other great key to the popularity of ‘Master and Commande’, a film in which otherwise there are no more relevant female characters, with the perhaps exception of the bow mask and a female face seen fleetingly against the coasts of America. In a tape of this type, life in Altamar, sailor rough and with a classic male hero, the representation of masculinity stands out.
“At 20 years, Weir’s work remains a captivating historical drama and an emblem of healthy masculinity,” Defend Hatcher. At the time of Handsfsera And between messages that advocate hard masculinity and the “shark mentality”, ‘Master and Commander’ transmits a different message: it clings to positive masculinity, the classic archetype marked by duty, sacrifice, the search for justice and especially companionship, without egolatries or arrivals. A comfortable, soft, universal reading that goes beyond generations and is defined by values that are not conflicting. Or like summarize it Paiella: “A sign of positive masculinity.”
In Xataka | It is not your thing, your friends are probably more popular than you: it is the paradox of friendship
GIPHY App Key not set. Please check settings