"Patrick O’Brian’s prose is magnificent," says Weir. "He’s a writer of the first order. Of course, this was one of the most challenging aspects about adapting his work. When you adapt any book, the words fall out onto the table and you have to replace the prose with images. It has been a great challenge to tell this story visually in a way that does justice to O’Brian’s words."
As Weir and Collee began writing the screenplay, they marked up O’Brian’s books under the headings: "Divisions," "Crew," "Jack and Stephen Dialogue," and so on. These references were in turn photocopied and turned into books themselves – "handy cribs for cast and crew," notes Weir.
"I surrounded myself with artifacts of the period as I worked on the script – swords, belt-buckles, maps, hoping to draw down the muse," Weir continues. "Music was another aid, as I groped in the dark, trying to find my way back in time."
According to co-screenwriter John Collee, MASTER AND COMMANDER, set largely aboard the ship Surprise, points to Weir’s consummate ability to create vivid, enclosed worlds. "That’s what Peter does brilliantly well, as in Witness and The Truman Show. He wanted MASTER AND COMMANDER to create a floating universe."
At the core of Patrick O’Brian’s works are the characters of Lucky Jack Aubrey and Dr. Stephen Maturin, and their "study-in-contrasts" friendship. The friendship between Jack and Stephen is one of the most vivid and unexpected in modern literature. They are unique creations and very much the reason there are twenty Aubrey/Maturin novels. Jack is a fusion of the best traits of several real-life captains – a brilliant seaman and genius warrior, if a reluctant follower of orders. He also is exuberant, loud and a connoisseur of bad jokes. Stephen is a brilliant surgeon, naturalist and "lubber" whose courage matches Jack’s.
It took a star with an imposing presence, Russell Crowe, to play the bigger-than-life Jack Aubrey. Much of the magic of O’Brian’s work is pairing the captain with his natural opposite: a man of science whose courage matches Jack’s: Stephen Maturin, played by Paul Bettany.
Peter Weir’s celebrated body of work was a key draw for Russell Crowe. "I’m a longtime fan of Peter’s movies," says the actor, "and I had always wanted to work with him. I’d grown up with Peter’s movies. For instance, I remember the most terrified I’d been in my young life was being in a cinema watching The Last Wave."
Crowe was also fascinated with the character of Lucky Jack. "He was a kind of man who doesn’t exist anymore; there’s no template for Jack Aubrey," says Crowe. "If you are talking about the British Royal Navy as his employer, he is a very unruly employee. However, in the broader sense of the mission with which he is charged as captain, he might not do it the way you want him to do it, but his results at the end of the day will be far more than you intended."
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