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Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
Master and Commander film poster
Directed by	Peter Weir
Written by	Peter Weir John Collee adapted from novels by Patrick O'Brian
Starring	Russell Crowe Paul Bettany Billy Boyd James D'Arcy
Music by	Iva Davies Christopher Gordon Richard Tognetti
Distributed by	20th Century Fox (most of the world) Miramax Films (Italy, Argentina, Japan theatrical) Universal Studios (France, Japan DVD)
Release date(s)	November 14, 2003
Running time	138 min.
Language	English
Budget	$120 000 000 (estimated)
IMDb profile

Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World is a 2003 film directed by Peter Weir and starring Russell Crowe as Jack Aubrey, with Paul Bettany as Stephen Maturin. It is adapted from three novels in the Aubrey–Maturin series by Patrick O'Brian.

Contents 1 Synopsis 2 Adaptation 3 Cast 4 Awards 4.1 76th Academy Awards 4.2 2003 National Board of Review 5 Soundtrack 6 Historical authenticity 7 Trivia 8 Books about the movie 9 External links

Captain Jack Aubrey follows a French frigate into the Pacific Ocean in a chase that leads to a bloody climax. A subplot involves his friend Stephen Maturin's desire to explore the Galapagos to examine its fauna and flora; the hunt of Acheron repeatedly frustrates this desire in spite of Aubrey's intentions. This leads to tension between the two friends as Maturin accuses Jack (who has, it appears, far exceeded his original commission) of needlessly pursuing the Acheron in order to satisfy his own pride.

The film is constructed from episodes from several novels in Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin series. The main plot, in which Aubrey in the HMS Surprise chases an enemy frigate round Cape Horn into the Pacific, is based loosely on The Far Side of the World, but the American frigate USS Norfolk in the book becomes the American-built French privateer Acheron in the film (the Acheron is based on the real-life USS Constitution). The stern chase around Cape Horn is taken from the novel Desolation Island, although the Acheron replaced the Dutch ship of the line Waakzaamheid, and in the book it is Aubrey who is being pursued. The episode in which Aubrey deceives the enemy by means of a raft bearing lanterns is taken from Master and Commander, and the episode in which Maturin operates on himself to remove a bullet is taken from HMS Surprise.

Probably the largest difference between the film and the books is the profession of Stephen Maturin. In the books he is a spy for England (as well as being a physician and surgeon), but although several references to both his beliefs and to espionage in general are made, he is never shown to be a spy. The film also plays out the role of Hollom as a Jonah to a much greater extent.

• Captain Jack Aubrey .... Russell Crowe
• Dr. Stephen Maturin .... Paul Bettany
• First Lt. Thomas Pullings .... James D'Arcy
• Second Lt. William Mowett .... Edward Woodall
• Captain Howard, Royal Marines .... Chris Larkin
• Midshipman William Blakeney .... Max Pirkis
• Midshipman Boyle .... Jack Randall
• Midshipman Peter Myles Calamy .... Max Benitz
• Midshipman Hollom .... Lee Ingleby
• Midshipman Williamson .... Richard Pates
• Mr. Allen, Sailing Master .... Robert Pugh
• Mr. Higgins, Surgeon's Mate .... Richard McCabe
• Mr. Hollar, Boatswain .... Ian Mercer
• Mr. Lamb, Carpenter .... Tony Dolan
• Preserved Killick, Captain's Steward .... David Threlfall
• Barret Bonden, Captain's Coxswain.... Billy Boyd
• Joseph Nagle, Carpenter's Mate .... Bryan Dick
• William Warley, Captain of Mizzentop .... Joseph Morgan
• Joe Plaice, Able Seaman .... George Innes
• Michael Doudle, Able Seaman .... William Mannering
• Awkward Davies, Able Seaman .... Patrick Gallagher
• Nehemiah Slade, Able Seaman .... Alex Palmer
• Mr. Hogg, Whaler .... Mark Lewis Jones
• Padeen Colman, Loblolly Boy .... John De Santis
• Black Bill, Steward's Mate .... Ousmane Thiam
• Captain of the Acheron .... Thierry Segall
• Private Trollope .... Aidan Black

• Won, Best Cinematography, Russell Boyd
• Won, Best Sound Effects Editing, Richard King
• Nominated, Best Picture
• Nominated, Best Director, Peter Weir
• Nominated, Best Art Direction
• Nominated, Best Sound Mixing
• Nominated, Best Costume Design
• Nominated, Best Film Editing
• Nominated, Best Visual Effects
• Nominated, Best Makeup

Master and Commander was released the same year as The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, which won every award of the eleven that it was nominated for. The two awards that Master and Commander won were in categories that The Return of the King was not nominated for.

• #10 Film of the Year

The score includes an assortment of baroque and classical music, notably the Bach Suites for Unaccompanied Cello played by Yo-Yo Ma, the third movement of the Corelli Christmas Concerto and a recurring rendition of Ralph Vaughan Williams' Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis.

The film's special edition DVD release contains behind-the-scenes material giving useful insights into the film-making process. Great efforts were made to reproduce the authentic look and feel of life aboard an early nineteenth century man of war. Some of the filming actually took place at sea on board Rose (a reproduction of the 18th century frigate HMS Rose), while other scenes were shot on a full-scale replica mounted on gimbals in a large tank. There was a third ship, HMS Surprise which was a scale model built by Weta Workshop. A storm sequence was enhanced using digitally-composited footage of waves actually shot on board a modern replica of Cook's Endeavour rounding Cape Horn. All of the actors were given a thorough grounding in the naval life of the period in order to make their performances as authentic as possible.

• The exploit of setting up a decoy of a large ship at night by attaching lights to a small boat was executed by the French privateer Robert Surcouf to successfully escape the British frigate HMS Sybille. It was also used by Lord Cochrane and described in his Autobiography of a Seaman, which was used by Patrick O'Brian as source material for his novel Master and Commander. In that novel, Jack Aubrey's first command, HMS Sophie escapes by using this tactic, while in the film it is Surprise which escapes Acheron using this trick.
• In the movie, Stephen Maturin inadvertently gives Jack Aubrey the inspiration to disguise Surprise as a whaling ship to fool an enemy, implying that this is a new idea for Aubrey. However, in the first Aubrey/Maturin book Master and Commander, Aubrey regularly uses the tactic of disguising his ship during his very first command, and it is described as a common tactic used by warships to approach unsuspecting targets and avoid attention from larger enemy ships.
• The music used in the trailer is shared with the Children of Dune miniseries.
• The actual ship used to shoot the movie is a sail training vessel called the Rose, now renamed HMS Surprise in honor of her movie role and moored at the San Diego Maritime Museum as a dockside attraction. It is now a floating museum filled with authentic cannon, clothes, tools and artists' representations of life on board an early 19th century frigate, as well as memorablia from the movie. It is a replica of an original 18th century Royal Navy frigate, HMS Rose, that was in service from 1757–1779 and saw duty off the eastern seaboard of the United States during the Seven Years' War and the Revolutionary War before being scuttled by the British in a narrow part of the Savannah River to block the channel from a French fleet supporting the American assault on Savannah in 1779.
• The song sung in the wardroom is Don't Forget Your Old Shipmates.
• The music played on cello before the end is the "Musica notturna delle strade di Madrid", composed by Luigi Boccherini.
• The movie gives the impression that Jack Aubrey promotes his first lieutenant, Pullings, who receives his new captaincy with joy. In fact only the Admiralty could make such promotions, and the difficulty obtaining them is a recurring theme in the books. This was especially true for men such as Pullings, who as a member of a lower class without money or social connections might spend years hoping in vain for advancement. It was, however, possible for Captains (such as Aubrey) to make a lieutenant an Acting Captain for the duration of the commission — which was usually until the ship (in this case, the captured Acheron) arrived with all-important dispatches back in London (something which usually merited a promotion), and which is where Pulling was bound for — eventually — at the end of the film.
• An anachronism takes place when one of the young midshipmen, who appears to be around fifteen years of age, asks Captain Aubrey, "Excuse me, sir, but Mr Blakeney said that you served under Lord Nelson at the Nile?" and he replies "Indeed. I was a young lieutenant, not much older than you are now." The movie is set in 1805 (The year of Trafalgar) and the Battle of the Nile, which Lord Nelson won, took place in 1798 — only seven years prior — so there is no way his statement could be true.

• Russell Crowe and Paul Bettany had worked together before, on the Academy Award winning A Beautiful Mind. Crowe played mathematician John Nash, who suffered from schizophrenia. Bettany played John's roommate Charles, whom later turned out to be a delusion caused by his condition.

• 2003, UK, The Making of "Master and Commander": The "Far Side of the World", HarperCollins Entertainment (ISBN 0-00-715771-1), Pub date 6 October 2003, Paperback
• 2003, USA, The Making of "Master and Commander": The "Far Side of the World", W W Norton & Co Ltd (ISBN 0-393-05865-4), Pub date 6 October 2003, Hardback

• Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World at the Internet Movie Database
• Official 20th Century Fox web site

Films Directed by Peter Weir

Homesdale | The Cars That Ate Paris | Picnic at Hanging Rock | The Last Wave | Gallipoli | The Year of Living Dangerously | Witness | The Mosquito Coast | Dead Poets Society | Green Card | Fearless | The Truman Show | Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World | War Magician