Captain Blood: His OdysseyA Review by Julia Jacobi Some years ago I saw the film "Captain Blood, His Odyssey" that was produced jointly by Russia (probably Soviet Union) and France. Original language of the film is Russian. The film is divided into three parts (4 or 5 series on TV). The first part follows the book fairly closely from the beginning up to the escape from Barbados. The second part has the plot of the chapter "Blank Shot" (first chapter of the "Chronicles of Captain Blood") only the character of Easterling is renamed Levasseur - so the screenwriters united two villains of the story into one character. The third part of the film is entirely the product of the screenwriters' broad imaginations. The "Easterling/Levasseur" character wants to avenge himself upon Peter Blood and conspires with Colonel Bishop and the Spanish (what a company!!!) to capture Blood. "Easterling-Levasseur" lures Blood and his officers into believing that he possesses the secret of a gold mine in Peru. (Never before this film had I known that the Caribbean Sea has an exit to the Peruvian coast!) Blood and his fleet sail there&150;into an ambush prepared by "Easterling/Levasseur" and the rest of the company. After some boring episodes, (including a battle with the French fleet sailing under tricoleur which is difficult to understand, considering that the year is probably 1689 but surely not 1789 and also the French are dressed in the uniforms taken from some film about the Napoleonic Wars), Blood is finally captured by Bishop and brought to Port-Royal to be hanged. His pirates organize a raid on Jamaica and Blood escapes with them and Arabella. The character of Arabella is absolutely minor in the film. She appears on the screen only for a few moments. The last lines inform us that Blood is going to continue his career as a pirate... In the end I want to mention that the landscape of Crimea and Black Sea is impossible to take for the Caribbean landscape. A separate review page of Captain Blood is available for you to share your thoughts on the novel. Return to Articles & Images Last updated 29 March 2008. Copyright 1999 by Julia Jacobi. Any concerns or problems about this site, please contact Rimfire. |