Winter Movies 2015: Mutiny on the Bounty

My final movie is the 1935 version of Mutiny on Bounty, which is based on a historical event that occurred in 1787. Several other versions of the movie have been made.

On the advice of Sir Joseph Banks, the British ship HMS Bounty sets out to transport breadfruit from Tahiti to the West Indies, to provide cheap food for slaves during a famine. The commanding officer was Captain Bligh, who had served under Captain Cook on his third journey (and saw his captain killed), and was part of Cook's legacy of officers with superb navigation skills.

 

The crew encountered hardship on their journey, but do obtain the breadfruit in Tahiti. While there, part of the crew, lead by Christian Fletcher, staged a mutiny on April 28, 1787, citing harsh, unreasonable treatment. They commandeered the ship, tossed the breadfruit plants overboard, and set Captain Bligh and his loyal followers adrift at sea. Through incredible seamanship, Bligh navigated the life boat and his crew to the Cape of Good Hope, Africa, arriving on December 16 (his journal entries record their longitude and latitude through the whole journey). A year later in Britain, most of the mutineers were brought to trial. Others had escaped to Pitcairn Island to establish a colony, where their descendants live today.

This movie is full of human drama, all the more interesting because it is based on true events. In some follow-up research, I learned this movie is the least accurate version. Historians have proposed that the real issue behind the mutiny was that the conscripted crew wanted to stay in the Tahitian paradise (and not that they had been misused by Bligh). Reading through Captain Bligh's journal entries, and learning that he had navigated his crew to safety changed my view of him as presented in the movie. I enjoyed watching this movie for more glimpses of plant history. Watch the trailer: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0026752/