Pirates (1986 film)

Infobox Film
name = Pirates

|image_size=175px
caption =
director = Roman Polanski
producer = Tarak Ben Ammar
writer = Gérard Brach
John Brownjohn
Roman Polanski
starring = Walter Matthau Cris Campion Damien Thomas
music = Philippe Sarde
cinematography = Witold Sobocinski
editing = Hervé de Luze
distributor = AMLF Cannon Releasing
released = July 18, 1986 (USA)
runtime = 124 min. (USA)
country = France / Tunisia
language = English
budget =
preceded_by =
followed_by =
website =
amg_id = 1:38224
imdb_id = 0091757

"Pirates" is an adventure/comedy film written by Gérard Brach, John Brownjohn, and Roman Polanski. It was directed by Roman Polanski and released in 1986.

Production

Riding on the success of the highly acclaimed "Chinatown", Roman Polanski began to write a screenplay for a swashbuckling adventure film called "Pirates". Originally, Polański intended for Jack Nicholson to play the central role of Captain Thomas Bartholomew Red, a grizzled old pirate, but complications arose partially due to the enormous fees Nicholson was demanding (according to Polanski, when Nicholson was asked what exactly he wanted, he replied, "I want "more".") Following this, the production was delayed for a number of years when Polanski was arrested for statutory rape, which caused him to flee the country to avoid sentencing. Production restarted later in Europe, this time with a different production company. The role of Captain Red went to Walter Matthau and the film finally came out in 1986, years after it was first conceived.

The film's original estimated budget while Polański was aligned with Paramount on the picture, was $15 million, but the final budget is estimated to have cost US$40 million. The reported gross box office revenues in the United States was $1.65 million. Despite the film's financial failures, it was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Costume Design.

The original ship used in the film, named the Neptune, a reproduction of an actual historic spanish galleon, is on permanent display in the Italian port city of Genoa. Tourists to this city can tour the ship for a price of 5 Euros per person.

Plot summary

The film begins with Captain Red (Walter Matthau) stranded aboard a raft at sea with his first mate, Frog (Cris Campion), both of whom are presumably close to death from dehydration. After Red, cracking under the starvation, tries to kill and eat Frog, the duo is picked up by a Spanish Galleon and are forced into slavery before instigating a shipwide mutiny with the other prisoners and taking control of the vessel. Frog falls in love with the female love interest, María-Dolores de la Jenya de la Calde (Charlotte Lewis), the niece of the governor of a Spanish colony. Red covets the golden throne that the Spanish have taken from an Aztec king. Lots of explosions and gunfights occur as they recruit a crew of cutthroats to win over the gold (with Frog trying to romance the girl as well) throughout the remainder of the film. Ironically, the film ends in a Phyrric victory for the heroes, with Captain Red and Frog again stranded on a raft, Red sitting on the golden throne urging Frog to eat and "fatten up" (hinting at a possible relapse in his cannibalistic urges).

References

* "Roman" by Roman Polanski

External links

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* [http://yachts.monacoeye.com/pages/neptune001.html Neptune] - photo of the galleon built for the film Pirates, now in Genoa.