PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: Sequela ala WORLD'S END

by Dr. Craig Reid

Medically speaking, sequela is a pathological condition resulting from a previous injury or disease. When it comes to film, the more appropriate term is sequelmania for what has gripped the world and kungfumagazine.com over the past few weeks. The symptoms? SPIDER-MAN 3, SHREK THE THIRD and now PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD'S END.

And the summer has yet to start!

What makes AT WORLD'S END so special to martial artists and Hong Kong film fans is that for years we have joyously known that Hong Kong movie stalwart Chow Yun-fat was cast to play Sao Feng, leader of a cutthroat bunch of Chinese pirates that will "have at" Jack Sparrow. Rumors abounded that Chow's character would die within the first five minutes of the film? Not true. All told, he is in about 20 minutes of the movie, and his band of mutineers (seen throughout the film) are played by a veritable who's who of Asia-American stuntmen and legitimate martial artists (James Lew, Marcus Young, Xuyen Sammy Valdiva, Philip Tan, Arnold Chon ? to name a handful), faces you've seen in every major Hollywood production featuring martial arts action since LETHAL WEAPON IV (1998). In real life, the pirates of the Caribbean were at their strongest between the 1640s and the 1680s. But what about Chinese pirates?

Chinese pirates arose during the Yuan dynasty circa 1290 when Kublai Khan sent an expedition of 1,000 ships to Java to extort tribute from the last ruler of the powerful Malay island group kingdom of Singhasari. While the Mongols were en route, a rebel killed the kingdom's leader, Kertanegra. When the Mongols did arrive, Kertanegara's son-in-law aligned himself with them to destroy the rebel and his army ? then decided to attack the Mongols and force them to leave at a time not favorable for sea travel. Instead of risking death at sea from the monsoons, many marooned Chinese naval officers and their crews, consisting mostly of Cantonese and Hokkien tribesman, set up shop along Sumatran and Javanese river estuaries to protect themselves and garnish food and provisions by robbing passing ships. They became highly touted pugilists and weapon experts, and as maritime silk and spice routes grew and shipping traffic increased, so too did the strength and ferocity of these pirates.

The most powerful Chinese pirates emerged mid-way through the Ching dynasty and fluorished in Fujian and Canton provinces. Between 1802 and 1804, Zhen Yi and his wife Zheng Yi Sao ? the most powerful pirates known in Chinese history ? formed a pirate coalition that grew to over 10,000 men. One has to wonder if the screenwriter of AT WORLD'S END named Chow's character Sao Feng after Zheng Yi Sao (probably not, since Zheng Yi Sao means "wife of Zheng Yi," but you never know). Of note, I have never seen a Chinese martial arts film featuring swashbuckling pirates like we have in the West (unless you count Jackie Chan's PROJECT A, which really was not a pirate film per se). After Zheng Yi died, Yi Sao became the most feared pirate of the Chinese waters, pillaging, extorting and robbing anyone and anything from Macao to Canton. She was even more powerful than the Ching navy of that era. For the unprotected villages that refused to pay her taxes (as if government taxes were not enough already), it was a dark time.

In AT WORLD'S END, it is also a dark time, as the Age of Piracy nears its close. Lord Cutler Beckett (Tom Hollander) of the East India Company has gained control of the freakishly terrifying ghost ship, the Flying Dutchman, and its vengeful, psychotic captain, Davy Jones (Bill Nighy). The Dutchman freely roams the seven seas, unstoppable, destroying pirate ships without mercy. Will Turner (Orlando Bloom), Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightly) and Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) embark on a desperate quest to gather the Nine Lords of the Brethren Court, their only hope to defeat the Flying Dutchman, Beckett and his armada.

But one of the Lords is missing ? Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp). Whether one judges him as the best or worst pirate ever, he is trapped within Davy Jones' Locker by a maniacal and monstrous Kraken (giant squid). In an increasingly shaky alliance, our heroes ? including Tia Dalma (Naomie Harris) ? must first travel to dangerous, exotic Singapore and confront Chinese pirate Captain Sao Feng (Chow) to get a ship and special maritime charts that will take them to the world's end in order to rescue Jack. However, even if Captain Jack is successfully rescued, the gathering of the legendary Brethren Court may not be enough to hold back the fearsome tide of Beckett and Davy Jones ? unless the capricious sea goddess Calypso, imprisoned in human form, can be freed and convinced to come to their aid.

As betrayal piles upon betrayal, it becomes clear that Jack, Will, Elizabeth, Sao Feng, and Barbossa each have their own agenda, and no one can be trusted. Yet each must choose a side, and make their final alliances for one last battle, in a titanic showdown that could eliminate the freedom-loving pirates from the seven seas forever.

In the West, when we think of great swashbuckling films, THE SEA HAWK (1940) ? directed by Michael Curtiz and starring Errol Flynn ? must be considered one of the best ever made. Adding to a great story, Flynn did not use stunt doubles for his sword fighting and derring-do stunts; he was, if you will, a 1940s Jackie Chan. Back then, there were no visual effects; things were shot in fewer takes and the actors tried to fight at breakneck speeds without under-cranking the cameras. The film's payoff was simply blood, sweat, gutsy athleticism and many mistakes ending in gashes and bruises. The man in charge of action had to know how to tap the skills of the actors for maximum benefit to the film. Some other must-see Flynn vehicles are CAPTAIN BLOOD (1935) and THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD (1939). SWORDSMAN 2 ? directed by Ching Siu-tung and starring Jet Li, can be viewed as the Eastern counterpart to THE SEA HAWK, because Ching (a major fan of Curtiz's pirate films) always intelligently uses the abilities of his actors and stuntmen to their fullest potential.

To me, AT WORLD'S END plays a lot like Peter Jackson's KING KONG (i.e., if you eliminate the first 40 minutes or so of the film, it is a masterpiece). Though there are some truly fantastic action set pieces in the film, when it comes down to the action ? and especially the sword fights ? stunt coordinator George Marshall Ruge did not (or could not) tap into the pugilistic and weapon skills of his Asian-American stunt fighters.

Equally disappointing is a missed opportunity to pit expert Chinese pirate swordsmen against expert English military swordsmen either en masse or in one-on-one duals. Not only would this have been exquisitely entertaining, it could have challenged and showcased the fight choreographer's true skills. As the action was unfolding, I thought about the great sword fight between Hui Ying-hong (using a Chinese jian) versus Yuen De (using a Western foil) in the film MY YOUNG AUNTIE (1981). AT WORLD'S END had the opportunity to dwarf this East-West competition, especially because Swann was using a Chinese jian as her sword of choice throughout the film. In fact, a rush order was placed with Tiger Claw to deliver a dozen Chinese kwan do weapons to the Bahamas for the Chinese pirates to use. What this shows is that it isn't technology and budget that make for a great fight scene. In another noteworthy action sequence ? this one between Jack Sparrow and Davy Jones ? the set-up is very reminiscent of Andy Lau versus Aaron Kwok in SAVIOUR OF SOULS (1992). See if you spot what I mean when you watch AT WORLD'S END.

In stunt coordinator Ruge's defense, he had his hands full. In the Singapore sequence, which involved Barbossa, Turner, Swann, Sao, Jack the Monkey (who honestly stole the show in many sequences throughout the film), 200 assorted Chinese pirates, East India Trading Company militia and various Singaporean citizenry, a humongous fight scene spills out from a grotty bathhouse onto the streets and alleys of the city, and then onto wooden boardwalks and walkways connecting thatched stilt houses over the harbor.

"The Singapore sequence began as a one-line description in a treatment," notes Ruge. "Without warning it took on massive proportions, with a rapid evolution into a complex sequence on a very difficult set. We had limited time to prepare, design the action, choreograph and rehearse. Because the sets were still being built and the paint was still drying, I had rehearsals at very odd hours that often extended well into the night.

"The bathhouse portion of the sequence presented a lot of problems," Ruge continues.

"Complex fight choreography was required in a very confined space with lots of people and lots of obstacles in terms of the baths themselves. The set was incredibly slippery, with the steam rising from all crevices, and there was literally no room for error, with gunfire and swords flying everywhere. Once the action leaves the bathhouse and escalates out onto the streets of Singapore, another set of problems emerged. The action had to be designed, utilizing the very narrow wood-planked walkways that were elevated above the water by bamboo scaffolding. This required performers taking eight to 14 foot falls into the water, which was only 3-1/2 feet deep with a concrete bottom."

Adding to the difficulty of the shoot was that many of the action sequences from PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN'S CHEST was being shot at the same time. Furthermore, due to the cold and rainy weather, literally everyone on the film and stunt crews was constantly coming down with colds. Then when the late-winter weather kicked in, so did the seas, as the crew learned the hard way when they attempted to shoot a sequence in which Swann and some Chinese pirates escape imprisonment by climbing a rat line from the Flying Dutchman to Sao's flagship junk, which was in tow. A stiff wind whipped the waters into a whirlpool, which tossed the Dutchman, Sao's junk and the support crafts (with camera crew) about like toys.

"That night was surreal," recalls Ruge. "The stuntmen had to negotiate a 150-foot-long rat line, hand over hand, while alternating their leg holds on the rope as they went. The physical demands were already extreme, but what we didn't anticipate was bad weather and rough seas. We're not talking just rolling waves?we're talking about a churning cauldron of wickedly unpredictable, rough water. The seas became too rough for the pickup boats to navigate, the rat line itself was heaving up and down as much as 10 feet. Conditions couldn't have been worse. We ended up using another vessel that had a roof to get the stuntmen off the rope. The roof had to be reinforced, as it wasn't meant to carry the weight of people on top. The stuntmen had to time their transfer from the heaving rope to spotters on the boat's roof. The real stunts were being performed behind the scenes."

For the climactic "Maelstrom" sequence (taking four months to complete) ? a massive, apocalyptic battle between the pirate and British East India Trading Company armada taking place in a supernaturally induced storm rife with whirlpools, torrential downpour and mayhem to the hilt ? the filmmakers built full-sized replicas of the Black Pearl and Flying Dutchman from the decks up in a giant airport hanger. A system of piping and rain heads were installed into the hangar's ceiling, which pummeled the ships, actors, stuntmen and crew with rain at a rate of 25,000 gallons of water a minute with several gigantic fans blowing winds up to 100 miles per hour. While the filming crew donned protective gear to allow the water to roll off their backs, the stars and stunt players were not as fortunate.

"We got into costume with a wet suit on underneath," explains Keira Knightly, "which obviously makes going to the toilet really tricky." She giggles. "Then they turn the rain on, and you're drenched within 10 seconds. I just feel sorry for the crew because

they're in it all day long. The rain is so heavy at times that you literally cannot see. When the Black Pearl and Flying Dutchman are side by side, we're working on a 15 percent slope, in which you're running uphill doing a swordfight in torrential rain, with an entire camera crew coming at you. It looks great, but it's definitely a hard one to work on. It was brutal staying wet from eight in the morning until eight at night."

"Obviously, the Maelstrom climax was the most spectacular and challenging for us," adds Ruge. "All of the principal cast was involved, and there were multiple storylines being played out within the epic action. The ships are under heavy cannon fire and we used multiple air ramps and wire/ratchet work to create the illusion of our stunt pirates taking this fire. And because these were floating set pieces, we had the luxury of selling this action all the way to the water in many instances."

In closing, the film's producer Jerry Bruckheimer notes how it all comes down to the fundamentals of getting people into a movie theater ? something that hasn't changed despite enormous leaps in technology. "Our biggest challenge is to entertain the audience," Bruckheimer admits. "The film is more intricate than THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL and DEAD MAN'S CHEST. It has enormous battles, character turns, romance and humor. We want to suck the audience into our magical world on that screen, take them to places they've never been before with characters they fall in love with?and in the end, feel a little better than when they walked into the theatre."

AT WORLD'S END is a 168-minute film, and the last 110 minutes ? basically starting with the appearance of Chow Yun-fat ? is definitely worth the walk into the theatre.

	Discuss this article online
	Pirates of the Caribbean III

Written by Dr. Craig Reid for KUNGFUMAGAZINE.COM

Print Friendly Version of This Article