We interrupt this transmission...

[anteros_lmc]

...of Navy Boy fangirling to bring you a ranty film review.

As daughter has gone to stay with her gran, partner and I took the opportunity to go to the cinema *faints* This is probably the 5th time I have gone to the cinema since daughter was born and she is 5 now.

We went to see the The Eagle and if you plan to read this rant you should know that partner is a Celtic Studies grad and I spent a sizable chunk of time working as archaeologist specialising in the Iron Age of North West Briton. I also read The Eagle of the Ninth when I was 12 and fell in love with Marcus and Esca but haven't read the book since <3

So, we both thought it was a fairly decent film. I had never seen the lead actor before (which is probably a good thing) and I didn't find him too annoying. The mix of American and British accents didn't bother me as the Roman legions occupying Britain came from all over the shop (though not the US admittedly ;) The material culture was spot on most of the time. I've excavated Roman forts and Romano British settlements north of Hadrian's Wall and they would have looked a lot like that. Ditto the Caledonian's settlements. Partner thought the Seal People were a bit far fetched but I worked on a later Iron Age site in the Western Isles which had a central hearth surrounded by stone lined pits filled with seal claws so that kind of totemic device is not beyond the bounds of possibility. The bits that were filmed in Scotland looked authentically Scottish and I loved the way it rained continually!

The real problem though was the language. Gaelic. *headdesk* We have no conclusive proof what language the Picts and Northern tribes spoke but it's highly unlikely to have been q-celtic (the Goidelic languages e.g. Irish and Scottish Gaelic) and highly likely to have been a form of p-celtic (the Brythonic languages e.g. Welsh, Breton, Cornish). So really both Esca and those seal skin dudes should have been speaking something akin to Welsh not bloody Gaelic! Although I should add that when Jamie Bell and some of the more obviously non-Scottish cast spoke Gaelic it actually sounded authentically weird. However there were a few blokes there that sounded like they'd just rolled out of the Park Bar in Glasgow on a Friday night.

Then there was the music. Uilleann pipes. Guaranteed to make partner spit feathers. They're Irish and were invented in the 18th century as a parlour instrument. Only the final tune was played on small pipes which probably were around in some shape or form at this time. I have to confess I didn't recognise the variation in the pipes but I did recognise the tune which is a Scottish air that probably dates to the 18th century again.

All that aside one thing the film did get right was Marcus and Esca's relationship. You really can't miss it. Partner even suggested that we wait till after the credits rolled in case there was a sneaky shot of them snogging at the end. Remind me to ask him to return my slash goggles.

All in all not a bad film and a thoroughly enjoyable evening spent nit picking! (And enjoying teh slash ;).

Now were were we? Ah yes Navy Boys....

Comments

[eglantine-br.livejournal.com]

Have not read Eagle book. It is one of those that I have picked up and put down, many times, but not jumped for. Maybe I will, now that I have read all the slash stuff already.

I am reading the Basil Hall you pointed me at. What a sweetie. i find him very appealing. The grown up narrator is so kind and tolerant of his remembered younger self!

[esteven]

May I ask which Basil Hall you are reading? I love his The Lieutenant and Commander :D

[eglantine-br.livejournal.com]

I am reading his midshipman memoirs. Anteros showed them to me. I take it there is more... (squeaks with joy!!)

[esteven]

Project Gutenberg is always good for something
:D

[anteros-lmc.livejournal.com]

I read piles of Sutcliffe's books when I was a kid but I haven't re-read any of them since.

Basil Hall on the other hand is completely adorable. I managed to get a first edition of his midshipman's memoirs for about £30, it's not in good condition but it's a lovely tatty little thing :)

[esteven]

*envies the memoires*
:D

[esteven]

Oh, The Eagle of the Ninth!
*sighs happily*
Wasn't there a BBC mini series many years ago?

I'll see when and if it comes into our cinemas.

[anteros-lmc.livejournal.com]

I can't remember if there was a mini series but it's possible. I know several of Sutcliffe's works were filmed for tv in the seventies. I distinctly remember watching a serialisation of Sun Horse Moon Horse :)

[esteven]

I remember that when I first read the book, I thought it all happened in some dark woods in Germany because in the Teutoburger Wald (Forest), three legions lost their eagle and disappeared never to be found again...

[http://users.livejournal.com/_likimeya/]

I've already written a bit about it elsewhere, but I recently came across this article which takes the words right out of my mouth. Bird-brained hero, exactly. It didn't help that I find Channing Tatum physically repulsive, either, which is why I didn't see any chemistry between the characters at all. I couldn't see past Tatum's big fat neck and big fat thighs and big fat calves and big fat chest muscles and generally big fat un-Roman-ly huge bulk.
I'm inconsolable. I thought it could have been a really great film.

[anteros-lmc.livejournal.com]

I think it probably helped to have no real opinion on the lead and no great expectations of the film. Roman bloke was certainly dumb but not as dumb as Gaelic speaking Picts! XD

[http://users.livejournal.com/_likimeya/]

How can you have no opinion on him, he's the (faintly beating) heart of whole film! I actually don't care much about historical accuracy in a story as long as it's a good one (and especially not in this case, in which the whole 9th legion story may be nothing more than a myth). I'd rather have a thousand innocent mistakes than one poorly written main character.

[anteros-lmc.livejournal.com]

Tbh I was rather more concerned about Mr Bell. I am not hugely fond of other films I have seen him in and felt slightly ambiguous about him for the first quarter of the film. He did a good job though.

the whole 9th legion story may be nothing more than a myth
Lol! Yes, good point.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_likimeya/]

Um, I'm not just talking about Channing Tatum. He's only half of the problem. I'm talking about the character! In fact, Tatum really isn't a bad choice at all, considering that they've made Marcus so incredibly stupid…

[essayel.livejournal.com]

I went to see that on Saturday and am glad to have a chance to discuss it. Was going to rant review it but someone on my flist is a HUGE Channing Tatum fan and ripped me a new one a few months ago for suggesting that Hollywood might make a mess of a book I love.

*sigh* Why did they have to make Marcus so stupid? Why did they take all the cleverness and planning out of the story? Why did Guern attack them? Why did they remove that lovely moment at the end when Marcus is GIVEN his father's ring as a mark of respect between free men? Why did they make the return of the Eagle a public affair, thus making it impossible to make the sequel - oh - wait ...

The film LOOKED brilliant - apart from the Mad Max picts - and I think people who've never read the book will enjoy it but ...

[anteros-lmc.livejournal.com]

I think I'm quite glad that it's 30 years since I've read the book and couldn't remember any of the plot details! And we were too busy giggling at the Gaelic to get too annoyed by the dumb Roman. Though partner is still muttering darkly about the uilleann pipes...

The film LOOKED brilliant
Didn't it? Isn't Scotland pretty? And wet ;)

[essayel.livejournal.com]

All that rain!!

The misuse of Gaelic went right over my head, to be honest. Brythonic? Early Welsh? I guess they decided to use a modern obviously 'other' language with reasonable access to language coaches. Even if it was wrong it had to be better than having all the Scots/Picts/whatever grunting in broken American English like Native Americans used to in Westerns.

I liked the bits of music with the humming. That was pleasantly eerie.

[anteros-lmc.livejournal.com]

All that rain!
They should have been thankful for the rain, otherwise they'd have had midgies! Vanquishing barbarian hordes is one thing but Highland midgies are qutie another ;)

better than having all the Scots/Picts/whatever grunting in broken American English like Native Americans used to in Westerns.
Yikes! What a thought! Welsh would have been the perfect language to use though.

[stevie-carroll.livejournal.com]

I went to see that last night, being in a similar position to you as regards the book (it's on my shelves so I should reread it now). I also had fun spotting the errors, although different ones to you (horses are not cars or motorbikes, and British native ponies exist for a reason), but generally a good way to spend an evening.

[anteros-lmc.livejournal.com]

Lol! For all I know about horses they may as well have been riding motorbikes! It's fascinating the details different people have noticed. _likimeya complained in her review that they'd screwed up the Roman naming conventions which is not something that I'd noticed.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_likimeya/]

Mind you, that was a general complaint. Gladiator got it wrong, too, and I love that film to pieces, and the scene in which Maximus tells Commodus his (wrong) name is my favourite one! XD

[anteros-lmc.livejournal.com]

I am terminally confused by Roman naming conventions. Shows how much attention I was paying in Latin! There's a very good reason I became a prehistorian! ;)

[http://users.livejournal.com/_likimeya/]

I never learned about Roman names in Latin classes. Or in history classes before university. And it isn't really important if you're working with the kind of texts you're working with in school or language classes.
If you're making a movie, however… Anybody with a degree in ancient history should be able to teach you how to name your characters, so why don't they make lose 10 more pounds and get themselves the information??