Sunday, February 7, 2010

A Written Review: Mutiny On The Bounty


The film Mutiny on the Bounty was an interesting film. The plot, loosely based on historical events, was interesting and the acting and technical aspects of the film were very impressive.
One of my biggest complaints of this film was the fact that the film was supposed to take place with the Royal Navy. However, many of the main actors had obvious American accents. Most notable among these was the character of Christian played by Clark Gable. From the moment Gable walked on screen to the final shot of the film he was so obviously American that it was difficult for me to take him seriously throughout the film. It was almost as ridiculous as seeing Tom Cruise trying to pass off as a German in Valkyrie.
However, the acting itself was very good. I especially liked Charles Laughton’s portrayal of Bligh. Clark Gable also did a good job but, as previously mentioned, his accent (or more specifically his lack of an accent) really bugged me.
The cinematography in this film was also very good. The shots of the ship pulling into port and the final shots the ship being rammed into the island and then being burned are impressive.
While I wouldn’t called Mutiny on the Bounty one of the greatest cinematic achievements of the last century it was an enjoyable movie. The technology developed to show a ship at sea more cinematically would be used for years and while the accents took away from some of the actor’s performances there were more than a few well played roles in this film and it is a film I would suggest watching.

1 comment:

  1. I usually don't have problems with Americans playing other nationalities in older films after I consider how bad most of the fake accents were back then. Most of them would come off as bad caricatures. I usually (like I did with Mutiny on the Bounty) get used to the american accents before long. When it comes down to it I would rather have no accent than a bad one.

    Of course I didn't mind Tom Cruise in Valkyrie either so maybe I'm just crazy.

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