Though I sang in my chains like the sea

[sovay]

There will be a coherent post about Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End when I have slept. For now, I will say only that any film that fuses the underworld and the sea cannot disappoint me entirely, and that was quite possibly the best marriage ever. Spoilers to be discussed at length tomorrow. Points to lignota, navrins, and gaudior for all owning more piratical hats than me. (I tied my hair back with a black ribbon. I maintain it was appropriate to the period. My brother took photographs when I got back.) I crash now.

"I'll live in the wastes," he said. "Once every hundred years, you will shine out of the sea and I'll come to you, or I will draw you into the winds with my harping . . ."
—Patricia McKillip, Harpist in the Wind (1979)

Comments

[nineweaving.livejournal.com]

...quite possibly the best marriage ever.

Neptune and Persephone? Dis and Amphitrite?

Nine

[sovay]

Neptune and Persephone? Dis and Amphitrite?

The marriage of which I was thinking is a separate plot thread from the sea and the underworld, although the two do cross paths. But something like.

[ap-aelfwine.livejournal.com]

Glad to hear you enjoyed the film. Some of the reviews had me a little worried, but I trust your judgement.

[sovay]

Some of the reviews had me a little worried, but I trust your judgement.

I don't think it was a flawless film, but I think it was much more of a piece than Dead Man's Chest, which contained threads I loved (anything aboard the Flying Dutchman) and threads I thought should never even have made it into the storyboard stage (cannibal island, I'm looking at you). There was no single sequence in At World's End that I would have jettisoned; and while I will argue with the fates of one or two characters, the resolution is one that I found satisfying on both the personal and mythical levels.

[farwing.livejournal.com]

the canibal island ruined the second films for me. it made me so amazingly angry.

[ap-aelfwine.livejournal.com]

I was somewhat amused by the cannibal island bit, but I agree that it detracted from the overall quality of DMC and should probably have been jettisoned.

I'm glad to have your take on AWE, and on strength of the same might even go to see it before it comes to the two dollar theatre here. ;-)

[clarionj.livejournal.com]

I haven't seen it yet but I'll be interested to hear more of what you have to say. I don't mind spoilers; I don't really watch films (or read books, I guess) for the suspense--I like watching how things unfold to an end. (Not to say I don't enjoy suspense too; it's just not the main thing for me.) My daughter who went last night to see it said it was okay but not as good as the first or second.

Love your quote up there. And I still read people your poem--I was going to say, your poem about the sea, but, wow, how many of your poems are full of sea imagery--the one you sent me after Pirates 2 (Leviathan? it's downstairs and I'm too lazy to get it now). Anyway, you made me want to see the movie from the perspective of the speaker in your poem.

Okay, I'm rambling because it's morning. Have a terrific weekend!

[sovay]

My daughter who went last night to see it said it was okay but not as good as the first or second.

I thought actually it held together better than the second film; see my comment to ap_aelfwine. And the sea-mythology that I cared about so much was intelligently upheld.

the one you sent me after Pirates 2 (Leviathan? it's downstairs and I'm too lazy to get it now).

"Evighed"? I know that's the one I wrote right after I saw Dead Man's Chest.

Anyway, you made me want to see the movie from the perspective of the speaker in your poem.

Thank you!

Have a terrific weekend!

You, too!

[navrins]

In fairness I must confess that I do not own any piratical hats at this time. I simply have piratical hair, and an awesome girlfriend who provides piratical hats for me when I need them.

(I do have some intention of rectifying the omission when a convenient opportunity presentis itself.)

[zdenka]

*grin*

[z0mb1e.livejournal.com]

I also enjoyed the film, though I went in expecting to hate it. They really brought everything together as well as possible. The thing I was most sad about was how they just passed over the deaths of the kraken and Governor Swann.

And I like your McKillip quote - I love that trilogy.

[sovay]

The thing I was most sad about was how they just passed over the deaths of the kraken and Governor Swann.

I am less upset about the death of Governor Swann, because it leads to that lovely, sad, eerie sequence where Elizabeth sees him drifting with the other dead souls across the starry sea, when she throws him a rope that he will not take and cries after him as he disappears downstream—there are nightmares like this, when you cannot reach people no matter how hard you try, no matter how much you love them, and the fact that the scene captured that dreamlike silence and horror and inevitability allows me to feel that the Governor's death was not merely to clear room for new characters in the film. I felt much more that Norrington had been casually dispatched for plot purposes, although fleurdelis28 has made a cogent argument that his death is entirely in keeping with his sense of self and whatever honor he feels he still has a right to. The kraken I mourn.

And I like your McKillip quote - I love that trilogy.

It's one of my touchstones.