Roger Donaldson’s The Bounty is the fifth cinematic take on the true life taking of the HMS Bounty, a merchant ship that sailed for the unforgiving south pacific ocean to gather breadfruit trees and carry them back to the British West Indies.
Just don’t ask why they wanted a cheap source of food.
HMS Bounty never finished its journey, as a mutiny, led by Fletcher Christian, meant the ship never came back with its cargo. Captain Bligh and his associates were left to their own devices on a small ship boat, and miraculously managed to arrive to a Dutch colony more than 6000 km away. The mutineers went to Tubuai and then Tahiti, and finally settling in Pitcairn, where the ship was burned.
The only film version I’ve seen was Donaldson’s. My aunt and cousin in Tampico were massive fans of Mel Gibson (it was the eighties), and watched every single film of his, sometimes taping them from their satellite dish to rewatch. My holidays in Tampico usually were summed by: helping with groceries, washing dishes, walking with the dogs, and watching too many films. Sometimes we’d go to the beach but we’d need someone to drive us.
On one of those beach trips, we spent a good 8 hours frolicking in the waves, eating shaved ice, and washing off the naturally ocurring tarballs of our feet. By the afternoon, I was ready to crumble on bed, but we still gathered on a king mattress and watch movies. I distinctly remember the beginning of The Bounty, with Vangelis’ eerie drone setting up the scene perfectly. Anthony Hopkins is being courtmartialed and the story is told through flashbacks.
And then the ending happens. Mel Gibson’s Fletcher realises what he’s done, and as the HMS Bounty burns and sinks in Pitcairn’s Bounty Bay, a quick text summary concludes the film and credits roll. Vangelis closing music is perfect and I can’t separate both image and music from that closing scene.
Oddly enough, for years that’s the two parts of the film that I remembered, I fell asleep for the entirety of the movie and woke up just for the closing credits. The burning ship scared me for a moment, as I found myself barely awake.
Vangelis’ score for The Bounty has never been properly released, and both songs included on his Themes album are recreations, not the film versions. However, some fine people have managed to extract the music from Bluray and laserdics versions. If you fancy it, download it here.
-Sam J. Valdés López
