Film: Master and Commander
Peter Weir
Director
Wednesday, November 05, 2003; Noon ET
Director Peter Weir and actor Russell Crowe join forces to create an epic adventure in "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World." The movie is set during the Napoleonic Wars and Crowe is Captain “Lucky” Jack Aubrey, renowned as a fighting captain in the British Navy. When his ship is badly damaged in an attack, Aubrey is torn between duty and friendship as he pursues a high-stakes chase across two oceans, to intercept and capture his foe.
Weir, three-time Academy Award directing nominee, will be online Wednesday, Nov. 5 at Noon ET, to discuss the film and his career.
Submit your questions and comments before or during today's discussion.
Weir's previous directing credits include "The Truman Show," "Fearless," "Dead Poets Society," "Witness," "The Year of Living Dangerously" and "Gallipoli."
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Chicago, Ill.:
What drew you to the material in the "Master and Commander" novels -- what was the compelling theme or themes that made you want to make a film?
Peter Weir: I think firstly the quality of his writing. I was drawn to look at his books because of my own interest in this period, the Napoleonic wars. I wouldn't have strayed beyond the first book if I hadn't been drawn in by the power of the story-telling.
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Bethesda, Md.:
Why did you ignore numerous physical descriptions from O'Brian's novels in casting Dr. Stephen Maturin?
Peter Weir: I was aware that Paul Bettany in no way fulfilled the description from the book. Paul is tall, Maturin is short. His appearance in the novel is eccentric and that is not the way he appears in the film. However, I believe Paul Bettany has captured the spirit of Maturin to the letter. There is a danger in adapting a book to the screen in being too literally faithful. It is the responsibility of the director to protect the work in this way -- as much as it is his responsibility to remain true to the spirit of the book. The danger with Maturin as described appearing on screen is that he could appear rather comical. That is also true if I had stuck to the description of Jack Aubrey in regard to his weight. That would be the awful possibility of a Laurel and Hardy at sea.
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Montréal, Québec:
1. Of all the attributes and qualities that distinguish your work as a fillmaker, the one that never fails to mesmerize me, is your ability to create oneiric atmospheres. Though you layer all your films with amazing details, which would tend to denote a fondness for realism, you often dare to suggest that your characters inhabit a dream-like world. I find this is especially true of your Australian productions. Did you approch M&C in the same manner?
2. If you can be persuaded to shoot a sequel to M&C, can we hope to see you introduce the characters of Diana and Sophia in the next opus ?
Peter Weir: Each film is a "little world." I enjoy inhabiting this world and making it true to its own laws and at the conclusion of the project, often depart reluctantly!
I'm sure the studio is hopeful that the film is successful enough to launch a sequel. FOr my own part, I've never been drawn to the idea. I do like to move on. It's to be hoped that the film will lead new readers to the saga and to discover the fascinating relationship between Maturin and Diana.
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New York, N.Y.:
I am a fan of the works of Peter Weir and Russell Crowe and will definitely see this movie. But, as a woman, I was wondering how the movie is going to be sold to the female audience or is it supposed to be geared mainly to the male audience? I was surprised that from what I see in the previews, there is no mention of the relationships with Sophie or Diana. I guess I'm more into character development and relationships and hope to see some of that in the movie.
Peter Weir: There are no women in the film having chosen one of the long voyages and rightly, I believe, deleting the one female character in "The Far Side of the World." That being said, all the indications of test screenings indicate women find as much satisfaction as men in the portrayal of Jack Aubrey, Stephen Maturin, the officers and crew. It's true to say the publicity so far has emphasized the action sequences and I am assured by the studio that this is about to change... and that some of the other themes within the story, including the emotion manifest in some of the relationships will be indicated.
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Silver Spring, Md.:
What percentage of the film is CGI?
Peter Weir: There are some 730 odd CGI shots in the film. THe majority are difficult to detect. The result of long and patient effort. It was essential that the results be seamless in fusing live action miniatures and CGI. So I hope the answer to your question as a viewer is that it's all real!
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Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.:
Mr. Weir, I had the pleasure of attending the Patrick O'Brian Weekend at the Royal Naval Museum at Portsmouth England in early October. I can tell you that the historians I met there, some of whose brains you picked during pre-production for your film, are very excited about your film "Master and Commander." We also had the pleasure of dining on the lower gun deck of The Victory. I was seated next to the present Captain of the dry docked Victory. There were re-enactors, talks by historians, the artist of the O'Brian books, Geoff Hunt, etc. In other words, we all immersed ourselves, as best we could, in the era of Capt. Jack Aubrey. It was an exhilirating experience for us historical and literary buffs.
Could you talk a bit about how far you immersed yourself in the historical background for the film? Do you think you were successful? I look forward to being in the audience on opening day, by the way.
Peter Weir: I envy you being present on board the Victory on that evening in October. I was invited as guest speaker and it was only the completion of this film that kept me from attending.
Having loved the books and beyond the characters, the great attention to detail, which placed them as a reader in a truthful world, I felt I had to do the same with the film. The research involved all kinds of activities. Two voyages on the Endeavor Replica on the New South Wales Coast serving in the foremast watch and on the very first evening found myself hanging on for dear life as I climbed futtock shrouds to the fore-top just before midnight!
Then there were trips to Greenwich sifting through the correspondence of Lord Cochrane, running my hand over the deck timbers on the Victory where Nelson fell and crawling deep down in the orlop of the Constitution in Boston. Then there were the books.
I could never read enough, you know how much is out there. And I had advisers, on set, Gord Laco, Peter Goodwin at the Victory and the knowledgable Brian Lavery at Greenwich.
All department heads were inspired to find the provenance for the smallest detail. Much is unknown, of course, particularly in relation to the foremast-jacks and here common sense and guess work plus the experience of recreating a long voyage in detail, helped suggest answers.
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Herndon, Va.:
First the kudos: You are my favorite director.
Now down to business. I just read that you were approached about directing this film three times before agreeing to do it. Was there a reluctance to take on this story or was it just bad timing?
Peter Weir: I was offered the film in the mid-90s and it was literally the first novel, "Master and Commander." I re-read the book and felt it too difficult to adapt. The reason I think is that Patrick O'Brian was feeling his way. The book, as you may know, was a one-off that only with its completion did O'Brian and his publisher feel there was potential for a series. This first book, crammed with incident -- Jack having a love affair with the admiral's wife, Algerian corsairs, Maturin's spying on the Spanish coast -- I felt would lend itself to parody. When it was re-offered in mid-2000, this time the project having moved from Goldwyn to Fox, I made the same point and suggested casually, that if one was to attempt a single film from this saga, it would be better to start somewhere in the middle with one of the long voyages -- such as in "The Far Side of the World."
Here with a reduced pallet there was at leaast the possibility to touch on the essence of O'Brian -- the friendship between Jack and Stephen, less on board a frigate in this era, with all the characters the reader has come to know and love. To my surprise, the studio thought this a reasonable idea.
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Wexford, Pa.:
I realize you've had some huge hits in the U.S., but I'm more of a fan of the films you made Down Under - "Picnic at Hanging Rock," "The Last Wave" and "Gallipoli" -- which were hugely responsible for the revival, if you will, of Australian cinema. Do you have any plans to make another film in Australia any time soon? It seems to be such a treasure trove for great stories. Also, as a director, how much revising of a script do you do personally, or do you leave it entirely up to the screenwriter to put your ideas on paper?
Peter Weir: I constantly search for an Australian project, but would really frankly go anywhere for a good story. I think when a filmmaker begins their early films reflect the society in which they are born. If lucky enough to have a long career, in a sense, they become their own country. One went to see an Alfred Hitchcock film in the end, not an American or English film by Hitchcock. It really didn't matter.
Regarding screenwriting, I work intensely with the writer and occasionally with a gun to my head, pick up the pen myself.
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Boston, Mass.:
In adapting O'Brian's "Far Side of the World" to film, you chose to change the foe from a small U.S. Navy frigate in 1813 to a very heavy French privateer in 1805. Was this intended to make it more palatable for American audiences?
And why the name Acheron?
Peter Weir: The novel, it's true, was set in 1812 during the English/American war of that year -- a dirty little war if ever there was one. I chose to move it to 1805 and the world crisis of that period. There's no question it is the more interesting theater of war. After all, the world is forever changed after the French Revolution. O'Brian himself in an interview said if he had known the extent of the series, he would have wished to start earlier in time and kept it in this period.
As for making it more palatable to American audiences, in the original setting the Americans were victims of British aggression! And therefore would have been the "underdog" and perhaps more palatable, rather than less palatable.
Acheron is a tributary of the river Styx and seemed a very O'Brian name to me.
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Washington, D.C.:
Your films very often deal with people who find themselves in surroundings where they do not fit in: a Philadelphia cop among the Amish or a progressive teacher in a conservative school. "Master and Commander" seems to be different?
Thank You, Jelena
Peter Weir: I hope so! I remember a quote of David Lane's regarding his choice of subject matter, "Always come up out of a different hole." I hate the thought that I repeat myself while knowing there's a fingerprint inevitably left of the work of any individualistic director.
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