A long time ago, there were no such things as computer games, films, television programmes or even comic books. So, young boys and others yearning to experience strange new worlds of imagination had to rely on the written word. One of the people who delivered those worlds was Jules Verne, the 19th‑century French novelist who is often regarded as the father of the science‑fiction genre. There were, of course, authors who had used elements of science fiction in their works before, but Verne is the first whose complete oeuvre is associated with that particular genre. On the other hand, Verne’s novels, although definitely belonging to the genre, are in their nature adventure stories, and thus responsible for the future misconception of science fiction as nothing more than worthless juvenile escapism.
Escapist or not, Verne’s work provides entertainment to its reader, and even today we are still fascinated with his technological prophecies, although many of them became obsolete with the passage of time. The best‑known of Verne’s novels and one of the classics of adventure literature is 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, the mother of all underwater‑exploration novels. Its popularity among readers was tremendous, but 20th‑century film‑makers were rather reluctant to adapt it for the big screen, mostly due to the huge technical problems associated with the production. Some of those problems were solved in 1954 when Disney produced its version, directed by Richard Fleischer, one of the very first films shot in CinemaScope.
The plot begins in 1868 when numerous ships are rammed and sunk by a huge and unknown object. Surviving sailors bring stories about a sea monster, creating hysteria in the world’s ports. Professor Aronnax (played by Paul Lukas), a French marine scholar visiting San Francisco, is asked by the US government to join an expedition to investigate the phenomenon. Aronnax boards a US Navy vessel, together with his trusted servant and apprentice Conseil (played by Peter Lorre) and Ned Land (played by Kirk Douglas), a cocky expert harpoonist. The expedition spends many months in fruitless search until it finally encounters the sea monster in a violent collision. Aronnax, Conseil and Land are thrown overboard and after a while they stumble upon the object of their search. To their great surprise, they realise that the “sea monster” is actually a man‑made submarine. Its crew, led by the mysterious Captain Nemo (played by James Mason), take them as prisoners. For the next few months they experience numerous adventures and witness many wonders of the underwater world. At the same time, while Aronnax tries to reason with Nemo and convince him that he should share his discoveries with the rest of the world, Land plots escape.
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is the embodiment of Disney at its best – family entertainment that superbly uses brand‑new wonders of film technology. Special effects, combined with the underwater photography, are still impressive after almost four decades, and the Oscar award for them is well‑deserved, especially when we take into account the use of the brand‑new CinemaScope technology. The production design of the “Nautilus” was also very good, both original and faithful to Verne’s vision. The result is a film that should be viewed as a very good adaptation of the science‑fiction classic, in many ways comparable to the adaptation of H.G. Wells’ The War of the Worlds, produced one year earlier.
Of course, technical innovation and visual splendour are not enough for a film to be successful. The script by Earl Felton took some liberties with the original text, which is quite understandable. Some of the situations are quite recognisable from the novel; on the other hand, Felton spiced up the characters and, in some ways, improved Verne’s material. The biggest difference is the moral ambiguity; Nemo, played by James Mason, is portrayed as a genius whose disgust with civilisation and conventional morality reaches almost pathological levels, while, at the same time, deeply personal and quite understandable causes of such disgust provide strong emotional impact, making that character very alive, believable and almost sympathetic. Land, enthusiastically played by Kirk Douglas in his prime, is portrayed as a “normal” and even extremely likeable man, but, on the other hand, his actions portray him as not very bright. Paul Lukas as narrator is shadowed by those two, as is Peter Lorre’s Conseil, a rather unsuccessful and almost pathetic attempt at comic relief.
Since the film was targeted towards family audiences, some of the darker and more adult aspects of the story were compensated for with rather unnecessary plot additions intended to lighten the mood of the film. First we see Kirk Douglas doing a song‑and‑dance number at the beginning, and, later, we have a pet seal as a much more successful comic relief. Those elements give some charm to the film, but at the same time they reduce the film’s realism. On the other hand, Felton’s script gives a different but more powerful ending to Verne’s story. Obviously inspired by the dark realities of the Cold War and the looming threat of nuclear holocaust, the violent and spectacular finale is a very effective warning about the danger of uncontrolled scientific progress. Verne, who lived in an age of scientific optimism, would probably disagree with such an ending, but, on the other hand, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is a film worthy enough to be part of his everlasting legacy.
RATING: 7/10 (+++)
(Note: The text in its original form was posted in Usenet newsgroup rec.arts.movies.reviews on October 15th 1999)
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Movie URL: https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/41666-the-wrong-man Critic: AA
