The Incredible Journey of Mary Bryant

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wpgrace
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Re: The Incredible Journey of Mary Bryant

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Woot! Dark!!!!! :clapping: :clapping: :clapping:

Soooo glad you and coco finally got to watch the movie... and WHAT a fabulous critique you posted! And regardless of the YT vids from the movie, it's not just a weepy Alex soapy thing, right? It's truly a legitimate and beautifully made STORY on film, with many wonderful performances, and with universal themes about love and friendship and freedom and obsession that anyone can relate to.... no worries about the kleenex, right? There's just so much MORE to it than that...

OK PGAL! The ball's in YOUR court girlfriend!
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Re: The Incredible Journey of Mary Bryant

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It was lovely to read new reactions to Mary Bryant. It's such a wonderful and powerful story isn't it? It makes me very proud to be of pioneering stock that's for sure.

My two favourite scenes in the movie are the ones that dsr mentioned in her post; when Will admits to never having sailed to Spain, and when he tells Mary she's free in Timor. Alex played both those scenes just perfectly. When Mary asks Will why he lied and he answers "don't you know me by now?" I actually teared up. She was so strong and he had been such a braggart. Mary brought out the best in Will, but he couldn't see that and he suffered from low self esteem, even though he acted like he was the best thing since sliced bread.

The Timor scenes were amongst some of the first ones filmed, and it was wonderful to see that chemistry between Alex and Romola so early in the production. I thought that scene in their bedroom was so fraught with tension and emotion when she climbs into his lap. The director said Alex improvised during that scene when he pulls back to look into her face before kissing her again. It was just divine to watch. Beautifully played.

The character of Will could have been quite simply drawn in this story, but the writer (and Alex) gave him such a lot of depth. Clark was the same. He could so very easily have been a one note antagonist, but he was written as a beautifully multi-layered person who you alternated feeling sorry for and despising. To me, Mary was the most straight forward character in the story. Her strength of purpose was spectacular, but I know the writer and director worked very hard to make sure audiences could still relate to her. They didn't want her to come off as superwoman, or a heartless user (regarding her treatment of Clark). Romola, who was only 22 or so when she made the film, did a great job of showing Mary's emotional vulnerability while still keeping her in character as a schemer and survivor.

Historically, not a lot is known about Mary, and I think no more was heard of her after she gained her freedom back in England. (I loved how they ended the film with images of her overlaid with scenes of Will and the children. So poignant! :bmoon: ) The director read many books on the first fleet to prepare for the movie and said that there were conflicting reports about the rape of the female convicts, but he included it because it could very well have happened, and let's face it, it's a mighty powerful image.

As for the conditions they suffered on first arriving in the colony; those are true. They arrived on the 26th of January 1788, which is the middle of summer and the land was in the grip of drought. They were totally unprepared for life in a country so radically different to their homeland. The crops were unsuitable for the arid country and all the good, arable land was many miles away (over a mountain range). They really did suffer for a long time. It was also a fact that Governor Phillip would hang anyone who stole from the colony (the reason why young Sam in the film was hanged when re-captured), including his own soldiers.

The journey in the cutter took Mary, Will and the others 10 weeks, and it was also true that Will got drunk in Timor and spilled the beans about where they really came from. In the film Mary saves the day and covers for him, but in reality that is how they were discovered and re-captured. Also, Ralph Clark, while a real historical figure, was not Mary's lover and he didn't hunt them down.

Sorry, I'm rattling on (as I can do) and will shut up now. :blushing:
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Re: The Incredible Journey of Mary Bryant

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LOVE your post MM... so poor Will really DID get drunk and then get em all arrested? Bless his heart!

Your research into the movie, and your generosity sharing it with us, is VERY much appreciated, Sweetie. :flowers:
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Re: The Incredible Journey of Mary Bryant

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Indeed, MoonMad, you've provided a few more interesting historical tidbits to savor. Ten weeks in a cutter....I'm not only surprised they made it, but that they didn't lose more along the way.

One thing I found incredible is that one of the two men who survived and stood trial with Mary actually booked passage back to New South Wales.....I'm with the other guy; I'd have gone as far inland as possible and never set foot on a boat again!!
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Re: The Incredible Journey of Mary Bryant

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Wow, MoonMad, thank you so much. I personally find the actual circumstances give so much more color to the people involved. It is just such an amazing story in real life and the movie was so well done.
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Re: The Incredible Journey of Mary Bryant

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darkstarrising wrote:Indeed, MoonMad, you've provided a few more interesting historical tidbits to savor. Ten weeks in a cutter....I'm not only surprised they made it, but that they didn't lose more along the way.

One thing I found incredible is that one of the two men who survived and stood trial with Mary actually booked passage back to New South Wales.....I'm with the other guy; I'd have gone as far inland as possible and never set foot on a boat again!!
Yes, the fact that Martin went back is hard to believe isn't it? But it was a fact that many convicts, once their time was served, actually decided to stay in the colony as free men. Once the colony was established it actually thrived and ex-cons were given free land to persuade them to stay and marry and populate the country. Many became very prosperous (which was highlighted in Charles Dickens' Great Expectations). When you consider that many had nothing waiting for them at home in England but starvation, cold and probably (eventually) more jail time, it isn't that much of a stretch to believe they wanted to stay in Australia. But at the time of the first fleet, it was still very barren and dangerous. It says more about England I think, that Martin wanted to go back as a free man.

I'm glad you ladies liked my few extra tidbits. It's a fascinating story and really deserved to be told. I'm so glad it was done justice by the mini-series. Peter Andrikidis (the director) really excels at that kind of thing. He did another historical mini-series before this one called "Jessica" (based on the Bryce Courtney novel) and it was superb as well. His commentary was quite boring in parts (when you have to listen for three hours especially), but well worth it for the extra knowledge you pick up along the way.

Which reminds me, it's true the only actual ship used in the film was the Bounty which had been built for the film with Mel Gibson and Anthony Hopkins made many years before. The ship lives in Sydney now. I don't know what they use it for, but it sure came in handy! It was never actually sailed out to sea for Mary Bryant (some stock footage was bought from MGM for long shots of the vessel at sea), but was sailed along the coastline a bit. All the pitching you see when they are on the top deck is quite real and apparently there was a lot of seasickness amongst the poor extras.
wpgrace wrote:LOVE your post MM... so poor Will really DID get drunk and then get em all arrested? Bless his heart!

Your research into the movie, and your generosity sharing it with us, is VERY much appreciated, Sweetie. :flowers:
Thank you Grace. :smooch:

http://www.eurekacouncil.com.au/Austral ... Bryant.htm

Here is the link to a historical site that details what happened (as far as is known) for those of you who are interested. It also gives Martin's account of how they were re-captured in Timor. He may be 'wonderful Will' to us, but methinks in real life Will Bryant was a royal PITA! ;)
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Re: The Incredible Journey of Mary Bryant

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MoonMad,

thanks for the link (my guess is that Will wasn't as good looking either).

btw, after 10 weeks in a boat, those poor people were probably far worse a sight than what was portrayed.
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Re: The Incredible Journey of Mary Bryant

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Wow--thank you sooooooo much, MoonMad! I will spend some happy time perusing that site. I agree with Dark that Will was probably much less handsome than Alex...or charming... so he would be MUCH harder to forgive...
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Re: The Incredible Journey of Mary Bryant

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Yep, I bet they looked bad and smelled even worse. Can you imagine? :confused2:

I love how they cleaned them up in the film. Such a lovely surprise after hours of seeing them look disgusting. Had a bit of a giggle at what constituted 'sunburn' after months on the open seas. Take it from someone who turns into a lobster after a couple of hours in the Australian sun, that it was ridiculously understated. :snicker:
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Re: The Incredible Journey of Mary Bryant

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MoonMad wrote:Yep, I bet they looked bad and smelled even worse. Can you imagine? :confused2:

I love how they cleaned them up in the film. Such a lovely surprise after hours of seeing them look disgusting. Had a bit of a giggle at what constituted 'sunburn' after months on the open seas. Take it from someone who turns into a lobster after a couple of hours in the Australian sun, that it was ridiculously understated. :snicker:
I can identify with the sunburn. Painfully. Indeed, they all looked wonderful in period costume. At some point, I'd like to re-watch it, as I'm sure I missed quite a few subtleties the first time through.
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Re: The Incredible Journey of Mary Bryant

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MoonMad, fascinating insights - thanks so much for sharing them. It's a rarely covered part of our history (unsurprisingly as a nation we collectively forget about the wrongs we visited on our own citizens) and it's wonderful not just to have this movie, but all the additional info too.

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Re: The Incredible Journey of Mary Bryant

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We Yanks have our own way of seeing history through a prism.

In the 1860s, the American Union was divided over multiple issues (slavery, states' rights, alliances with various European powers). A few decades back, if you went to school in the northern states (Union), the war was referred to as the 'Civil War', oxymoronish to the extreme. If you lived in the southern states (Confederacy), the war was referred to as 'The War of Northern Aggression' .....

Today, for the most part, it's the Civil War.
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Re: The Incredible Journey of Mary Bryant

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Now, now...in the South we also called it, "The War Between the States"...or in some cases, if being REALLY genteel, "The Late Unpleasantness."

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Re: The Incredible Journey of Mary Bryant

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librarian_7 wrote:Now, now...in the South we also called it, "The War Between the States"...or in some cases, if being REALLY genteel, "The Late Unpleasantness."

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I learned something today....I'd not heard "The Late Unpleasantness" before. Classic. (BTW I'm from a border state, that sympathized with the south, but stayed in the union. Couldn't make up our minds.
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