Arts

Film: Master and Commander

"An act of war will cripple them...
 the power of Nietzsche nature will threaten them..."

This film was very nearly ruined by a misleading trailer with a terrible dramatic voice-over. If you look beyond the trailer though, it's quite a good film.

Quite good, but not brilliant. Sure it's being touted as a big awards winner this season, but in my book it should only touch the technical awards; best sound editing perhaps.

My main problem is that in post Saving Private Ryan cinema, battle scenes have to be ever more complex, with increasing pace, a cast of thousands and piercingly sharp sound. This worked for the opening of Private Ryan, but in too many films I get confused as to the significance of each death and who's on which side (though here the goodies thoughtfully wear a black band on their arm to help us; it's almost like schoolboy football).

I'm glad to have seen the film, but equally glad that I didn't pay full price. It's not as schmaltzy as I expected from the trailer, but equally not exactly high art.