Pirates (1986 film)

Pirates is a 1986 Franco-Tunisian adventure comedy film written by Gérard Brach, John Brownjohn, and Roman Polanski and directed by Polanski. It was screened out of competition at the 1986 Cannes Film Festival.^[4]

Plot

Captain Thomas Bartholomew Red and his first mate, Frog, are stranded aboard a raft at sea. Close to death from starvation and dehydration, Red tries to kill and eat Frog, but they are rescued by a Spanish galleon and are forced into slavery. Red inspires the slaves to mutiny and takes control of the vessel. Frog falls in love with the niece of a Spanish colonial governor, and unsuccessfully romances her. Red covets a golden throne that the Spanish have taken from an Aztec king. Through several adventures, Red recruits a crew of cutthroats to steal the throne. Despite their efforts, Red and Frog are ultimately stranded on a raft again, where Red sits on his golden throne and urges Frog to "fatten up".

Cast

• Walter Matthau as Captain Thomas Bartholomew Red
• Cris Campion as Jean-Baptiste/The Frog
• Charlotte Lewis as María-Dolores de la Jenya de la Calde
• Roger Ashton-Griffiths as Moonhead
• Damien Thomas as Don Alfonso de Salamanca de la Torre
• Olu Jacobs as Boomako
• Ferdy Mayne as Captain Linares
• David Kelly as Surgeon
• Anthony Peck, Anthony Dawson, Richard Dieux, and Jacques Maury as Spanish officers
• Jose Santamaria as Master at Arms
• Robert Dorning as Commander of Marines
• Luc Jamati as Pepito Gonzalez
• Emilio Fernández as Angelito
• Wladislaw Komar as Jesus

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, Polanski 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 in California on a charge of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor, after which he fled the United States to avoid sentencing. Production restarted later in Paris, this time with a different production company, Cathargo Films, and a new producer, Tarak Ben Ammar. The role of Captain Red went to Walter Matthau and the film finally came out in 1986, 12 years after it was first conceived.

A full scale galleon was built for the film in a shipyard in the port of Port El Kantaoui situated at the city of Sousse, Tunisia, adjacent to the Tarak Ben Ammar Studios, which had been constructed exclusively for this production. An accurate replica above the waterline, but sporting a steel hull and a 400 HP auxiliary engine, the "Neptune" was and still is entered into the Tunisian naval register and is currently a tourist attraction in the port of Genoa, where its interior can be visited for a 5 euro entry fee.^[5]

Release and reception

The film's original estimated budget, while Polanski was aligned with Paramount on the picture, was $15 million, but the final budget is estimated to have been US$40 million. The reported gross box office revenues in the United States was $1.64 million^[2] and $6.3 million worldwide.^[3] Despite the film's financial failure, it was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Costume Design.

Accusations against Roman Polanski

On May 14, 2010, actress Charlotte Lewis and her attorney Gloria Allred accused director Roman Polanski of predatory sexual conduct against her when she was 16 years old, claiming that Polanski insisted that she sleep with him in return for casting her in Pirates. However, this accusation contradicts earlier accounts she had given of her relationship with Polanski.^[6][7]

See also

• List of biggest box office bombs
• Cutthroat Island

References

• Roman by Roman Polanski

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pirates (movie).

• Pirates at the Internet Movie Database
• Pirates at AllMovie
• Pirates at Box Office Mojo
• Neptune - photo of the galleon built for the film Pirates, now in Genoa.