Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl, part 2a

[mimesere]

1) Flashiness.  Norrington is, and no one can tell me differently.  And I think it's actually really neat the way this was blocked because it implies so much about Norrington and Elizabeth's relationship.  But during the promotion ceremony, after Norrington's been presented with his shiny new smallsword, the camera cuts to a shot of Elizabeth fidgeting and paying absolutely no attention to what's happening in the background of the shot.  Namely, that Norrington is doing some flashy damn cool looking thing with his sword that matches, or at least suggests that Norrington is more than capable of matching, the flamboyance of both Will and Jack which Elizabeth finds attractive.  But SHE DOESN'T NOTICE IT.  She's not even *looking*.  Subtextually, what this says to me is that Elizabeth a) is focused pretty much on herself (as later events bear out),  b) that she thinks she knows who and what Norrington is, and c) that she thinks he's boring.  But then I point to what's happening when she's not looking and go, "But dude, he's being all flash and flamboyant with the sword!" and in such a coolly competent way that I just go, "Meep!".  The blocking of it, the angle of the shot past Elizabeth and her discomfort to Norrington doing a pretty good job of looking cool and her not seeing it at all makes me go grr.  A lot. 

Grrr. 

2) The Medal.  Norrington's done something to earn it.

3) Okay, just so we're clear?  Let's not forget that Norrington was *ready to jump off a cliff* to save Elizabeth.  Let's also just put it in here that the fall pretty directly links Elizabeth and Jack, much like the Kill The Pirates attitude links Will and Norrington.  Visual parallelism.  Gotta love it. 

4) Norrington snarks at Jack while Jack is *unconscious*.  That's just beautiful, man.  And, as fanaddict says, Jack issued a challenge with the line "This is the day you almost caught Captain Jack Sparrow" which Norrington then takes up and returns with the line, "This is the day Jack Sparrow almost escaped."  How much do I love that?  So much, dude.



In which the courtship continues and other people do stuff that I don't especially care about.




Originally I thought I could maybe start this section off with some deep, insightful interpretation of like, Norrington.  But this is what I've got.  Look! Jack's all pretty!  Ahem.  And actually? I need to take a moment here to confess that Jack Sparrow does not look anything like Johnny Depp to me.  Like, *at all*.  giddyupnow can back me up on this since she had to tell me who that guy in the picture with Orlando Bloom was.

One of the supertextual things I like about this movie is that it was an attempt to cast a movie full of character actors and a few big names and get with the good acting in a blockbuster popcorn film.  And I?  I *love* character actors.  Johnny Depp is, much like Viggo Mortensen, just this ace actor who disappears into the characters.  When I'm looking at Jack Sparrow or Ichabod Crane or Fred Abberline, I'm not seeing Johnny Depp at all.  The same thing is true of Norrington and Jack Davenport.  I look at Norrington and while I understand that it's Jack Davenport playing him, Norrington is...not Jack Davenport.  Like, I can see bits of him in Mike or Steve and a wee bit in Peter, but Norrington is just entirely separate from Jack Davenport.  I grant you, a lot of that is the accent and the posture, but you know.  Mad props to him.  Geoffrey Rush is just a god, and Jonathan Pryce is right around Jack Davenport's invisibility level for me.  Zoe Saldana's actually really impressing me with how *good* she is.  Unfortunately, and this isn't a slur against The Bloom's acting, I look at Will Turner or Legolas or what little I've seen of Paris and go, "Yep, that's Orlando Bloom."  It's true (for me) of Keira, though a little less so than Bloom.  And like I said, this isn't a *bad* thing, because I heart Sam Jackson with the fiery intensity of a thousand burning suns, but he's always essentially Big Daddy Sam.  Or, you know, de Niro and Pacino.  They're never *not* themselves, and they're awesome actors but, you know, you can't tell if the character was written to be that way or if it's just the actor doing that.  Sean Bean, love him as I do, is not a character actor.  Bernard Hill and David Wenham both are.  Ewan McGregor is hit or miss (though I usually hold up Curt Wild and Renton as proof that he *can* do it). 

Anyway.  I heart character actors.  That's what this whole huge paragraph existed to say.





I actually don't have a lot of screencaps of this sequence and I *don't know why*.  It's one of my favorites.  But I like this cap especially because of what it implies about Norrington's relationship with Governor Swann and what the later sequence with the cannons imply about both Norrington as, essentially, a soldier and more importantly, as a strategist.  But that later.

In commentary, Jack Davenport jokingly says, "Remind me when I crack a smile in this movie," and I think that's actually a really interesting observation to make.  He *doesn't* smile all that often and, according to the writers, the emotional oomph of the romantic ending of the film is lacking because of a scene that hinges on Norrington's smile.

Actually, let me just let the writers say it:

The single most important thing in this scene is Norrington's reaction to the words "You are a fine man ... James." Jack Davenport has an utterly charming smile, and we wrote the scene to that moment -- the moment where the audience would recognize: Hey, this guy is human -- and I like him!

--Ted Elliot, screenwriter, posting on the official PotC boards

And again, more on the referenced scene when I get to those screencaps, but it's important to *me* that Norrington's smile here is noted.  So, Governor Swann and Norrington.  First, this scene and this cap.  I have to start out by saying I don't entirely understand the fanon of Norrington Has No Friends.  'cause um, dude?  Did people just pick up and go on a bathroom break during this scene?  Norrington and Swann aren't acting like Nervous Suitor to Concerned Father, they're acting like they talk about stuff *all the time*.  Hell, they talk about the weather.  They're easy around each other, and given that it is *Governor* Swann and that Norrington is apparently the military commander for the area, I think they probably spend a relatively large amount of time together.  And again, they're easy with each other which speaks to a genuine liking and/or mutual respect for one another. 

Plus, dude.  Governor Swann *dotes* on Elizabeth.  He wants what's best for her.  And if he's pushing Norrington like a big pimp, then there's something there that he likes.  Following me on the logic here?  And both Elizabeth and her *maid* comment on what a good catch Norrington is.  So it's not like this is some big honking secret woobieness or anything. Truthfully, the fact that the maid seems on board is actually more impressive to me than Elizabeth's distracted acknowledgment of the same, 'cause I'm one of those people who kind of follows the theory that the servant class knows way more about the upper class than other members of that same class.  But that is just me. 

Anyway!  Given the Governor's amusingly unsubtle glee at trying to set Norrington and Elizabeth up and this scene where he's asking if she's given Norrington an answer, it's not such a far leap to the idea that Governor Swann really, really wants Norrington as a son-in-law.  And not to be all whackassed and fangirly about it, but damn dude.  Who *wouldn't*? He's a captain in the Royal Navy, he's apparently damn good at his job, he *looks like Jack Davenport*, and I would assume that the Governor knows full well that Norrington genuinely loves Elizabeth.  From the Governor's point of view, Norrington is just about the best thing *ever* for his daughter.  A man of rank, probably well-to-do, stable, and able to give Elizabeth the things she's accustomed to.  And he loves her. 

erm.  *hides the sekrit het otp tendencies*

*subliminally suggests that people write me Teh Hawt Norrington/Elizabeth corset-unlacing Sex-A-Thon porn*





I'm actually really tempted to go back and screencap this so I have textual evidence for what I'm saying here, but I do have the script, and that's just gonna have to do.  The cut text for this bit also came out of Jack Davenport's commentary on the scene, where he said, "This was my chance to have my 'I love the smell of napalm in the morning' moment, a la Robert Duvall in Apocalypse Now and I singularly failed to do it, because I blinked." (Note: Given the numerous screencaps of Jack Davenport shooting stuff with his eyes closed, I would assume that he's just prone to blinking when things explode).  But even with the blinking, this is a hardcore badass moment for Norrington. 

Let's rewind a bit.  Norrington is looking out over the harbor, hears/sees something funny and it clicks that they're being fired upon.  He tackles the Governor and is *immediately* back on his feet shouting, "Return fire!"  The next time we see Norrington, he's on the battlements himself, giving orders like, "Sight the muzzle flash" which, you know, is *smart*, given that it's an overcast night and a black ship firing at them.  Plus, the cannons?  Near the waterline and if you take them out they can't fire at you.  Go Norrington with your badass strategic self.  "I need a full strike, fore and aft!" he says, which um.  Yo.  The Hot.  Sometimes I am just that shallow, kids. 

But then! And this is just such a great thing, he turns to Governor Swann and is like, "Governor, barricade yourself in my office.  That is an *order*."

Ahem.  So basically, Norrington's forceful enough a personality to feel no wibbliness at all about giving the governor an order.  Also, smart.  Get the civvy out of the way, but more importantly, make sure the VIP is safe behind a barricaded door.  Sure, it's arrogant as *hell*.  It's pushy, it's aggressive.  It also kind of implies that, at least in terms of military matters, Norrington is quickly decisive and not inclined to, like, waver on those decisions.  He's focused on a goal (protect Port Royal, kick pirate ass) and he's going to damn well do that job.



Ahh, Norrington.  *hearts him insanely*  Arrogant bastard.  *hearts him more*

Actually, this got a little long and I'm kinda hungry.  So I hit post and will do up more after my homework.