Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003) is an action-adventure/comedy film set in the Caribbean during the early 1700s. It was inspired by the Pirates of the Caribbean attractions at Disney theme parks around the world, developed by Walt Disney himself. Pirates was directed by Gore Verbinski and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, and became the first Walt Disney Pictures release to earn a PG-13 rating by the MPAA (all previous WDP releases were rated G or PG).

As of March 16 2004, Pirates had grossed at the box office more than $653 million worldwide—the 21st highest grossing movie ever. It proved to be a success for Walt Disney Pictures and, within weeks of its release, the studio announced that a sequel, Dead Man's Chest was in development (it was released in the United States on July 7, 2006). Pirates of the Caribbean 3 is also in production, slated for May 25th, 2007 .

Tagline: Prepare to be blown out of the water.

Production

When production for the film was first announced in early 2002, movie fans and critics were skeptical of its chances of being a success; the concept of Disney basing a movie upon one of its own theme-park rides seemed to many a crass marketing ploy. Additionally, the genre of pirate-themed movies had seen a string of big-budget flops (Cutthroat Island and Treasure Planet, among others). Critics were pleasantly surprised to find the film an enjoyable swashbuckler, and the movie became a huge box-office success, grossing over $300 million in North America alone. The film also received five Academy Award nominations: Best Makeup, Best Sound, Best Sound Editing, Best Visual Effects, and a surprise Best Actor nomination for Johnny Depp. It has additionally been voted onto IMDb's "top 250 films of all-time" list by its users . However, the poor reception received by other films based upon Disney theme-park attractions (The Country Bears, The Haunted Mansion) suggests that the success of Pirates of the Caribbean is merely an exception to the rule or, perhaps, that each film is only as good as its makers.

Plot

The story starts when Governor Swann (Jonathan Pryce), the new governor of Port Royal, Jamaica, and his daughter Elizabeth (Keira Knightley) set out from England to the Caribbean, escorted by Lieutenant Norrington (Jack Davenport) of the British Royal Navy. They come upon a shipwreck with a sole survivor: a boy named Will Turner (Orlando Bloom). Elizabeth discovers a golden skull medallion around Will's neck and, fearing that he will be executed as a pirate, quickly hides it from the others. Just before the ship continues its journey, Elizabeth briefly glimpses another ship with shredded black sails vanishing in the mists.

Eight years later, Norrington is being appointed Commodore, and Elizabeth attends his promotion ceremony. Norrington begins to propose to Elizabeth on the battlements, but before he can formally state his proposal she faints due to the tightness of her corset, tumbling over the wall into the ocean. Destitute pirate Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp), only just arrived in Port Royal, rescues Elizabeth from drowning. Strangely, the skull medallion (which Elizabeth is wearing around her neck) emits a mysterious pulse through the water as she is falling to the bottom of the sea. When Jack returns to dry land after saving her, the occupying British forces attempt to arrest him for his previous crimes — including piracy, for which he has been branded on the forearm by the British East India Company (pirate lore suggests the tattoos were actually placed on the foreheads of the convicted). As he tries to escape, Sparrow meets Will Turner — now the local blacksmith's apprentice, who is in love with Elizabeth but is too shy and refined to admit his feelings to her — and, following a swordfight with Turner, Sparrow is knocked unconscious by Will's employer (who slept through the entire swordfight) and arrested. That night, Port Royal is besieged by the infamous ghost ship known as the Black Pearl — a black vessel crewed by a vicious, bloodthirsty crew, and captained by a man reputed to be "so evil that Hell itself spat him back out". The mysterious pulse which emanated from Elizabeth's medallion seems to have "called" the Black Pearl somehow. Crew members from the Pearl find Elizabeth (who hides her true identity as the governor's daughter by using Turner as a last name) in possession of the medallion, and take her back to their ship. She invokes the rule of parlé ("parlai" in Middle English, "parley" in modern American English—a negotiation or discussion between two parties, particularly in military situations, during which no harm can befall the adversary) in order to be taken to the Captain (Sparrow's former First Mate) of the Black Pearl, Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush), to ask that he cease his attack on Port Royal in exchange for the medallion. Barbossa agrees but, employing a loophole in their agreements, abducts Elizabeth. The next day, Will (having seen Elizabeth taken by the Pearl's crew) fails in his passionate efforts to convince Commodore James Norrington and the Royal Navy to pursue the culprits immediately (despite the Commodore's own feelings towards Elizabeth). While the Commodore puts his faith in strategy, Will takes up an offer by Jack Sparrow to rescue Elizabeth in exchange for breaking him out of jail. After absconding with the Royal Navy's fastest ship and assembling a crew to man it on the lawless island of Tortuga (Spanish for turtle), Jack and Will set off to find Barbossa and the Black Pearl, which is heading towards Isla de Muerta — a mysterious island that's supposedly undiscoverable, save for "those who already know where it is."

Here, we learn the true story and intentions of Barbossa and his crew. The Black Pearl and its crew were once under the command of Captain Jack Sparrow until they mutinied ten years before. Jack was talked into giving the crew the bearings to Isla de Muerta, the location of a chest of Aztec gold treasure they sought. Under the command of Jack's first mate Barbossa, the crew then marooned Jack on a small island, leaving him a pistol containing only one shot. The crew found the Aztec treasure, and believing the tale of the curse to be a myth, took all the treasure for themselves. Will's father, "Bootstrap Bill" Turner, was the only member of the crew who protested against the mutiny. Bootstrap Bill sent one of the cursed gold pieces away to his son in hopes that the crew would never find it and remain cursed as a fitting punishment for the mutiny, but in doing so accepted that the curse would befall him as well. In retaliation, Barbossa ordered Bootstrap to be tied to a cannon and thrown overboard. Too late, the crew discovered that the curse was indeed real; in order to break it, they were required to return all the pieces of the treasure to its chest and give a blood sacrifice from everyone who removed them. As part of the curse, the crew's gluttony, greed, and lust for worldly possessions can never be satisfied, and they became undead, forced to never die or rest in their covetousness (moonlight reveals this fact, showing the pirates in its glare to be living, rotting skeletons). After a decade, they have succeeded in fulfilling almost all of the requirements to end the curse — save for obtaining the blood of Bootstrap Bill and the gold piece he stole. With the medallion (in reality, the last piece of the treasure) and Elizabeth "Turner" (who they believe is the child of Bootstrap) in their custody, Barbossa believes he finally has what he needs to lift the curse.

Jack and Will confront Barbossa and his crew at the same time the crew learns that Elizabeth is indeed not the child of Bootstrap Bill. Will, however, had overheard Jack's plan to trade him for the Black Pearl; following his own plan, he knocks Jack out and gets them both captured in a failed attempt to rescue Elizabeth, while revealing himself to the Black Pearl's crew as the true son of Bootstrap Bill. Elizabeth and Jack are stranded on the same island on which Jack was stranded a decade ago, while Will is taken back to be killed to complete the requirements to end the curse. Elizabeth burns all their supplies (Jack's hidden cache of rum), as well as some of the small island's palm trees, to create a signal fire to alert Norrington of her location. Elizabeth and Jack are eventually rescued by Norrington, but Elizabeth is unable to convince him to go back and rescue Will until Elizabeth promises to marry him.

Upon arriving at the cursed island, Jack convinces Norrington's forces to lie in ambush for Barbossa's crew while he goes in and convinces them to come out. He convinces Barbossa to delay spilling Will's blood to break the curse until after they have killed the crew of the Royal Navy ship Dauntless and taken the ship. This proves to all be part of Jack's plan; however, he was not expecting the undead crew to walk along the ocean floor to the ship, which allows them to escape the planned ambush. As the Black Pearl crew engages the Royal Navy in hand-to-hand combat aboard the Dauntless, Jack steals one of the cursed coins, unseen by Barbossa, and engages in his own swordfight with his former first mate. Because of the coin he stole, Jack now has a share of the loot, so he too is cursed and thus can't be killed until the curse is lifted. Moreover, in order for the curse to be lifted, his blood must now also be given. During their fight, he distracts Barbossa long enough until both he and Will can give their blood and return their respective coins (Will has the medallion from the start of the film, Jack the coin he recently stole). Before Will drops the coins into the chest, Jack shoots Barbossa with his pistol, containing the one shot he was given when marooned after Barbossa's mutiny. When Barbossa claims, "Ten years you carry that pistol and now you waste your shot." Will claims, "He didn't waste it!" and drops the coins into the chest breaking the curse. After the curse ends and all the Black Pearl crew becomes mortal again. Barbossa falls to the treasure-covered ground and drops his sour, green apple. Once they realize they're no longer cursed — and no longer immortal — Barbossa's crew surrenders to the Royal Navy.

Back at Port Royal, Norrington is forced to hang Jack as per law, but Will, who believes him decent enough a person to not deserve death, rescues Jack. Elizabeth, inspired by Will's sudden defiance, as well as his confession of love towards her, rejects marriage to Norrington and declares her feelings for Will instead. Norrington agrees to release her from her promise and Will is pardoned for his criminal act; meanwhile, Jack escapes and awkwardly falls into the ocean, to be rescued by the crew he assembled to help him earlier and who now man the Black Pearl. As the movie ends, Norrington watches as Jack sets sail for unknown adventure, impressed by the pirate enough to allow him one day's head start before setting out in pursuit.

If viewers continue to watch the movie after the end credits, they will see a final scene on Isla de Muerta. Barbossa's pet monkey, Jack, climbs out of the water and onto the Aztec chest, where he takes a piece of the treasure. Jack's skin sloughs off and he looks at the camera for a moment before pouncing forward, the scene disappearing into his mouth.

Cast

Actor	Role
Johnny Depp	Captain Jack Sparrow
Geoffrey Rush	Captain Barbossa
Orlando Bloom	Will Turner
Keira Knightley	Elizabeth Swann
Jack Davenport	Commodore James Norrington
Jonathan Pryce	Governor Weatherby Swann
Lee Arenberg	Pintel
Mackenzie Crook	Ragetti
Damian O'Hare	Lt. Gillette
Giles New	Murtogg
Angus Barnett	Mullroy
David Bailie	Cotton
Michael Berry Jr.	Twigg
Isaac C. Singleton Jr.	Bo'sun
Kevin McNally	Joshamee Gibbs
Treva Etienne	Koehler
Zoe Saldana	Anamaria

Sequels

Awards

All awards are from 2004, unless otherwise noted.

Academy Awards

Nominee, Best Actor, Johnny Depp
Nominee, Best Makeup, Ve Neill, Martin Samuel
Nominee, Best Sound, Christopher Boyes, David Parker, David E. Campbell, Lee Orloff
Nominee, Best Sound Editing, Christopher Boyes, George Watters II
Nominee, Best Visual Effects, John Knoll, Hal T. Hickel, Charles Gibson, Terry D. Frazee

Art Directors Guild

Nominee, Excellence in Production Design Award, Feature Film - Period or Fantasy Film, Brian Morris

ASCAP Film and Television Music Awards

Winner, Top Box Office Films, Klaus Badelt

BAFTA Awards

Winner, Best Make Up/Hair, Ve Neill, Martin Samuel
Nominee, Best Achievement in Special Visual Effects, John Knoll, Hal T. Hickel, Terry D. Frazee, Charles Gibson
Nominee, Best Costume Design, Penny Rose
Nominee, Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role, Johnny Depp
Nominee, Best Sound, Christopher Boyes, George Watters II, Lee Orloff, David Parker, David E. Campbell

Golden Globes

Nominee, Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy, Johnny Depp

The Eddies, American Cinema Editors, USA

Winner, Best Edited Feature Film - Comedy or Musical, Craig Wood, Stephen E. Rivkin, Arthur Schmidt

Saturn Awards, Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA

Winner, Cinescape Genre Face of the Future Award, Female, Keira Knightley
Nominee, Best Actor, Johnny Depp
Nominee, Best Costume, Penny Rose
Nominee, Best DVD Special Edition Release
Nominee, Best Director, Gore Verbinski
Nominee, Best Fantasy Film
Nominee, Best Make Up, Ve Neill, Martin Samuel
Nominee, Best Music, Klaus Badelt
Nominee, Best Special Effects, John Knoll, Hal T. Hickel, Terry D. Frazee, Charles Gibson
Nominee, Best Supporting Actor, Geoffrey Rush
Nominee, Best Supporting Actress, Keira Knightley

Screen Actors Guild Awards

Winner, Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role, Johnny Depp

References

Footnotes

External links

Official site

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