Pirates once again....

[fajrdrako]

I went to see "Pirates of the Caribbean" again last night.

Embarrassing to say, perhaps, but I enjoyed it more than ever.

More and more I noticed what to me are glaring parallels with the Dorothy Dunnett novels, particularly putting Jack Sparrow in the position of Lymond and Will Turner in the position of Will Scott in "The Game of Kings":

• Jack and Lymond are both outlaws, betrayed by someone they trusted
  
• both are friendly with strumpets
  
• both are masters of the sword and love ships, and see ships as a kind of freedom
  
• Lymond apparently sets up an elaborate plan to sell Will Scott (whose identity is unknown to others) to the enemy in order to get the information he needs; but the whole set-up is a double-cross because he never had any intention of selling Will, and knew that those he was negotiating with (George Douglas and friends, in this case) were not dealing honestly. Will Scott, suspecting he was being set up, turns on Lymond and ultimately stabs him in the back. Essentially the same scenario happens with Jack, Will Turner and Barbossa, except that Will Turner hits Jack over the head instead of stabbing him.
  
• Lymond and Jack are both witty drunks.
  
• Lymond and Jack are both branded.
  
• Will Scott, like Will Turner, is respectable until he joins the band of outlaws or pirates.
  

Like the Lymond books, my 'favourite bits' are any scenes in which Jack Sparrow appears.

I shouldn't be indulging myself like this....

The people I went to the movie with this time had not seen it before, and everyone liked it. Everyone talked about 'buying it on DVD' when it came out.

Comments

[dargie.livejournal.com]

I hadn't actually thought about this before, beyond the Thady Boy resemblance, but you're right. It really does parallel GoK, doesn't it? Further, both Wills marry (presumably Will and Elizabeth marry) high-spirited, independent women, and become douce, decent community members.

Let's hope the parallels with Will Scott (Huile d'Escotia) end there.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Huile d'Escotia. Heh. That scene is *so* funny.

Both Wills also ultimately risk their respectability and postition for the hero's sake, having decided he is not bad, after all - and each in their way, they save the hero's life at the pivotal moment when he is about to be condemned to death by the law.

Any parallel between Wat Scott and Bootstrap Bill is rather more strained, though it isn't hard to picture Wat (a feuding, feisty, border warlord) as a sort of pirate-analogue. He has the personality.

Just possibly...

[walkingowl.livejournal.com]

...is this the perfect movie? Or, the perfect storyline? What an interesting thought.

Re: Just possibly...

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Funny thing is, I didn't have much in the way of hopes before I went to see it. I mean, skeleton pirates. It sounded pretty hokey.

I would say not so much that it is the perfect movie (that would be "The Lord of the Rings") as a beautifully written and crafted movie with a variation of the Perfect Hero Archetype as hero-in-disguise.