In Appreciation of Hector Barbossa -- The pirate we all love to hate--love.
First, I must start off by saying I love almost everything the actor Geoffrey Rush has done in his career thus far. He is one of my all-time favorite actors who brings vigor and honesty to all his roles, which is outright mind boggling. One thinks of his amazing portrayal as the musical prodigy David Helfgott in SHINE, chillingly like the man himself. Or Mr. Rush portraying the sincere psychologist and mentor to the King of England in THE KNGS SPEECH. One thinks of his deviously witty and outstanding performance as the lusty Marquis in QUILLS. No matter who he portrays, Geoffrey Rush always gives a top-notch and believable, if not mesmerizing performance. Mr. Rush forever puts a tremendous amount of gusto and heart into his roles which are memorable, and many of them Oscar noteworthy.
But I come here to talk about Mr. Rush’s character as Captain Hector Barbossa in the Pirates of the Caribbean movie franchise. For the first-time last week, I finally laid my eyes on DEAD MEN TELL NO TALES. I saw it for three days in a row, viewing it at least once or twice daily as a rental. I was pleasantly surprised to see that in this movie, the role of Barbossa was given a totally different venue to interpret. Although most of the pirate films are seen predominantly as Johnny Depp vehicles, I was pleased to see Johnny step aside and let Geoffrey Rush have this movie. I don’t know if it was intentional or not, but clearly that is what I saw. I say that because each time I watched this film -- besides crying the entire last half hour of the flick -- yes, even Elizabeth and Will’s reunion -- what I took away from DMTNT is that each time I felt this was very much a Barbossa movie!!
When Captain Barbossa first lumbered onto the screen in CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL, he was without question the villain of the piece. Not even human, Barbossa was a ghostly Captain because the curse of Cortez had befallen the Black Pearl’s crew. But he was a pirate of distinction even then. Barbossa was a dastardly opponent to Jack Sparrow, but he also seemed to carry on a certain code of ethics of his own, outside of the Pirate Codex. You got a sense he was a man of honor and his word carried value. And with an eye for the ladies, at least he was a respectful pirate at his best.
By the time AT WORLDS END rolled around, in the very beginning of the movie we got a sense that he was protective of Elizabeth. Although a gnarly character, he seemed to be a good buddy to Sparrow after all, despite running his own agenda from time to time. There seemed to be a softening of the villainous character which we liked about Barbossa. There was a sense of fair play about him, even though he had all those rough edges. We saw through the visage and liked this pirate even more because of his likeable character. He really had true friendships formed with others and possessed a good nature which peeped through that tough exterior.
By the time we saw Barbossa in ON STRANGER TIDES, he seemed to fall out of the ‘pirate mode’ and turned coat from his true form. Barbossa aligned himself with the British Crown for his own personal gains. He became a lover of the finer things in life, surrounding himself with fripperies and trinkets of a posh existence. Despite his weakness for luxury, we still had a sense that deep-down Jack Sparrow and Hector Barbossa were always true buddies. No matter which side of the coin they ran in an argument, or who was the current captain of the Black Pearl, they liked each other. The so called ‘bromance’ had been established and the bond clearly defined. These two pirates not only respected the other, but had an affinity as well. To watch them banter was a riot, and to hear Barbossa’s wisdom in his speech to Sparrow (as they stood by the dead Kraken) gave the elder Pirate Lord much depth and dimension.
I must say that in DEAD MEN TELL NO TALES, I really enjoyed witnessing the softer side of Hector Barbossa, the man behind the myth of legendary Pirate Lord. It truly was a stroke of genius on Geoffrey Rush’s part to play the role as he had; the understated and sublime nuances to express his feelings. They were almost hidden endearments. When he was done, there was no doubt to the audience that Barbossa harbored great love for his young daughter. Rush unleashed those emotions as one sips a fine wine; releasing the soft notes of a flavored bouquet. He acted through those feelings with a cunning and intricate shift of his facial features. Although very subtle and modest, they spoke literally volumes of emotion. The shift of a sly grin when Barbossa realized who Carina was, and her slapping his face for insulting her father. The close up view of Barbossa’s face as he walks away from Carina travailing over the knowledge that she is indeed his daughter. His response when Hector flips the compass open and sees it pointing to his ‘treasure’ The sentiment is all there, but without it becoming too saccharine. I loved his conversation with Jack when explaining how and why Carina had been placed into the orphanage. This was a man with a deeply ingrained humanity, who loved a woman, and had tried to care for a child as best he could. There was honor in that.
The tenderness Geoffrey Rush brought to his role of Hector Barbossa this time around was so full of depth of feeling, but without it becoming maudlin. He was brilliant in my estimation. The heroism of Barbossa saving Carina’s life in the end; I do not think any girl who had a loving relationship with their father could escape this scene without sheading a tear. I personally bawled like a baby over Barbossa’s death.
Even though I want these POTC characters to live forever, I think I could live with this death because it seemed so right and had been executed to perfection. If this is the actual, final pass of a great POTC character, I think I can live with that. And I must say thank you, and BRAVO to Mr. Geoffrey Rush and hail him for his magnificent performance and portrayal of Hector Barbossa in all his POTC movies. But for me, DMTNT - - WAS his movie in the franchise, and Mr. Rush certainly did justice to it!
I was always a Hector Barbossa fan, but now after “Dead Men Tell No Tales,” I am even a bigger fan! Father of the year award somebody said? HELL YES, says I!
