The pirate flag is once again flying on the blue waves of the Caribbean Sea. "Pirates of the Caribbean 5: Dead Men Tell No Tales" was released on May 26. Are you in a hurry to buy tickets to see the movie?
After 6 years, we can see such "Captain Jack" again...
Such……
And of course, there's this on the screen...
In fact, "Captain Jack" as the "Pirates of the Caribbean" series has been more than 15 years of the greatest vitality, it is by Johnny Depp single-handed shaping. In the 1990s, the original idea for Pirates of the Caribbean came from the Disney-owned theme park of the same name. Disney's enthusiasm for exploring multi-channel and omni-directional products is obvious to all. "Pirates of the Caribbean" is also Disney's another work that transplants amusement park facilities after "Bear on the Grass". At the beginning of the conception, the script was just a clichéd adventure story with some elements of gods and ghosts. It created a hero at sea, found the treasure through hardships, and achieved the purpose of publicity. Everyone is happy. Until they brought in Depp to star—
The pirates I imagined in the 18th century were rock stars!
Smoky makeup, orchid fingers, wobbly walking posture, she looks like a drug-addicted girl. Depp's character image for Captain Jack Sparrow is very different from Disney's original intention. What they want is just Hollywood's stylized hero, which is this...
It was too risky from a business standpoint, but Depp proved right to stand his ground. The role brought in $4 billion for the series and earned Depp his first academy (Oscar) nomination of his career. .
Captain Jack is an uncompromising postmodern character - the meaning of his actions lies in the meaninglessness, and the charm of his personality lies in the incomprehensibility. This image is affectionate but not merciless, greedy for life but not afraid of death. In the chaos of life and death, there is time to find hats or blow feathers on other people's heads, find treasures and abandon them, and give up when they reach the Fountain of Youth, "It's better not to know. When is the end of life, so that the infinite mystery of life can be felt at every moment of life." The compass in Captain Jack's arms never guides, the trade winds at the helm, where is the destination, what is the meaning of the voyage has long been forgotten Dissolving, what he dreams of is only to be able to sail on the "Black Pearl" again and again, just like his actor Depp-what he cares about is the unknown adventure state itself.
The yearning for freedom and the desire for adventure are always on the road of exploration, in line with the deep-rooted value demands of human beings, especially Western civilization, bringing unprecedented novel experiences to the audience, and also the spiritual core of pirates as a subculture.
So since the new century, we can still see:
And so on pirate-themed entertainment products. There are generally two reasons why a certain theme/type of popular literature and art is particularly popular: one is that it reflects a hot issue in the process of social change; the other is that technological progress has broken through the bottleneck. The superhero series represented by the Marvel Cinematic Universe is riding on the latter's east wind, and we can see "Pirates of the Caribbean" on the big screen, as well.
As for the fundamental reason for its popularity and popularity, it is the above-mentioned cultural dimension. There are similar: with the coming "Age of Discovery" "Great Space Age", science fiction also in line with "the survival of liberty in the broader territory," "to explore a broader expanse of the world" these two have in common, as presented The technology has become more and more superb, and in recent years, it has gradually entered the public eye from the niche.
So where did pirates come from?
Looking back to the source, "pirates have appeared since the day the ship was invented" is not a joke. The birth and development of this "illegal" profession has a very long and long history.
As early as the 27th century BC, the Phoenicians’ navigational routes and commercial territories reached today’s Sicily, North Africa, Spain, and the north and south shores of the Strait of Gibraltar. This is an out-and-out seafaring nation with advanced economic minds. They rely on a strong shipbuilding industry to manufacture "slingshot warships" and "ballista warships" to carry out raids and trade activities in the Aegean Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. . The emergence of pirates is almost synchronized with the marine civilization. However, during this period, people did not have many negative comments on these sea robbers who murdered and crossed goods. Greek culture believed that desire was one of the driving forces for social progress. It is called "pirates", and pirates are listed as the five basic means of livelihood together with nomadic farming, farming, fishing and hunting. Odysseus in "Homer's Epic" is outspoken about his experience of leading his men to sea to sack Egypt, which does not prevent him from being praised as a hero.
Compared with the "forerunners" in ancient times, the Vikings appeared much later, mainly active in the 300 years from the 8th century AD to the 11th century AD. The pirate in English is "pirate", and the Vikings have a special title: "viking", which was incorporated into English in the 18th century and also contains the meaning of "romantic heroic behavior at sea". Language is the best carrier of culture. These bearded, horned hats, tall and strong "barbarians" who came from the permafrost in the north are indeed entitled to this "special treatment": they are fierce and rampant, with a strong organization The color of nationalization and even nationalization has set off a magnificent cold current of pirates. In June 793, organized Danish pirates seized the Isle of Hawley in northeastern England and sacked Lindisfarne Abbey in a destructive manner, "the house of God was desecrated, and the remains of saints were trampled like dung in the street. , at least three bishoprics have disappeared.” Since then, Vikings have frequently attacked Western and Southern Europe, they “landed quickly with the help of rising tides, looted and killed wanton, material loss, humiliation of men and women, It poses a great threat to civilizations that have not yet been firmly established." The large-scale blood and fire behavior of the Vikings can be said to have truly "promoted" the profession of pirates.
Then came the "Great Navigation Age" of the 15th and 17th centuries. As Columbus, Da Gama, and Magellan opened up new routes to the other side of the ocean, pirates also moved their old nests from the Mediterranean to the new world. Opened the "golden years" belonging to pirates.
This period can be called "many talents", such as Francis Drake, the infamous "Blackbeard" who participated in the defeat of the Spanish Armada, "Royal Pirate", and "Black Baron" Bartholomew Roberts who created the "Pirate Code" , William Kidd who left the legend of the treasure, Anne Bonney and Mary Reed who are not allowed to be men, Henry Morgan, the bloodthirsty devil, etc. These big pirates are all because of their own characteristics and legends It has become famous for a while, and it has also left valuable materials with strong plasticity for various literary and cultural products in later generations.
Finally, let's go back to Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales. (dead man tell no tales translated as "death without proof" is not considered clever, but since the convention is used below) Tip: The following content involves spoilers.
In terms of plot, "Dead Men Tell No Tales" follows the consistent pattern of the series: that is, the trouble finds Jack, the key to solving the problem will be a legendary treasure, and the protagonists involved in the incident will take an adventure on land and sea, and finally save the day. The same is true for this work, only with the experience of the fourth part, "Dead Tell No Tales" plays a big emotional card, it is more closely linked with the first three parts, Will Turner and Elizabeth both make brief appearances, the main body of the adventure is actually Will Turner's son, and the daughter of a great man. On the other hand, the villain also returns to "Legion of the Dead", starring Javier Bardem as Captain Salazar of "The Butcher of the Sea".
The entire series formed by the first trilogy uses three lines of narrative: one line for Jack and the protagonist, one line for the villain, and one line for the navy. This work has weakened the navy, the conflict is more concentrated, and the evolution of the story is slightly monotonous, and the middle section even has the style of a road movie.
David Jones may be one of the classic villains in Hollywood movies. By digging into his past experience of "falling in love with the sea goddess, and then feeling cheated and gouging out his heart in anger", he also successfully made this man. The characters become three-dimensional. Captain Salazar is also "cursed" and also carries an "undead army" and a ship with terrifying functions. Except for the external presentation, it can almost be regarded as a replica of Davy Jones. But this time the villain is more like a purely functional character. As a navy, he once swore to slaughter the "plague-like" pirates, and was later squeezed out of the water by the tenderness (you can see the young Jack restored through CG technology on the screen) Appearance) of the captain's design "framed". After the curse was lifted, Salazar's only goal was to seek revenge on Jack. The motivation for his actions was relatively weak, and the characters were not three-dimensional. The performance of the other two new actors was considered fruitless, carrying their respective story functions.
Sounds like a lot of tricks, doesn't it?
But apart from the plot and characters, "Dead Men Tell No Tales" satisfies all the qualifying elements of a popcorn blockbuster.
You can still see the fine traditions of the series - the great waves, the cannon fire, the thrilling naval battles.
You can also see gags full of laughter, as well as funny, funny action scenes that make people laugh. Therefore, the rhythm of the narrative has been relaxed.
Robbing a bank has the visual sense of "The Fast and the Furious", and the ending of Captain Barbossa, which is a bright spot, has the visual sense of "Guardians of the Galaxy 2"... If this is the first part, probably mediocre is a suitable evaluation word , but when it appeared as the fifth installment in the series, the judging criteria became ambiguous.
After all, it continues the pirate dream and Caribbean dream of fans of the series. Tricky, but wonderful. More than ten years have passed, and the audience has gone from children to adults, from students to jobs, from youth to starting a family and starting a business, from the weak crown to running away. This series accompanies the growth of the post-80s and post-90s. In recent years, we have witnessed the long farewell to the magical world of "Fantastic Beasts" on the screen, and witnessed the sad ending of "Uncle Wolf"... Fortunately, Captain Jack is still the same Captain Jack, and he still has a unique demeanor and charming charm. You can once again set sail towards the horizon on the "Black Pearl". When the main theme of "Pirates of the Caribbean" sounds, it can also ignite our heartstrings, let us cry for it, and be fascinated by it.
After searching for more than two hours, the Seagod Trident, which "contains all positive and negative forces at sea", was easily smashed by a sword, and "all the curses are lifted", does that mean that there will be no more magical colors? Is the series coming to an end?
However, the figure of Davy Jones appeared again in the easter egg.
Then set sail again. Perhaps, as hoped, the Caribbean Sea will never end.
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