Yet another post dedicated to mermaids and to individuals who concentrate in detail and lose the big picture --if I want to be frank, though, I cannot deny that I am very well located between them.
Pirates of the Caribbean IV is here the film in question, which, is, frankly, a quite boring film from a certain perspective. If you see it as a whole, there is no solid narrative, rather a generic storyline of random meetings on solid ground or on board on Stranger Tides, no twists, no suspense at all, and nothing very impressive from the actors' side either; we know already the Johnny Depp's ultimate creation of a character, Jack Sparrow, a persona combining traits of The Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards and cartoon character Pepé Le Pew and we like him. But, we miss Keira Knightley and Orlando Bloom; then, we get a busty Penélope Cruz instead, which is just not enough. But, we also get the mermaids...
I am now ready to say that the film is worth it, solely because of this extraordinary take on this imaginary creature. It's a total re-creation, a complete make-over of the mermaid as we know her from Andersen's story The Little Mermaid. She is now closer to Homer's version of a femme fatale mermaid, one who sings to enchant and lure sailors to their rocky island to (possibly) eat them. One who sings so powerfully, that Ulysses will prefer to suffer tied in the mast, listening to them, but unable to approach them.
What we learn more in Rob Marshalls's take of our beloved piratic saga(his musical directing past doesn't add up to the movie, as expected) is that even though they usually look good, they have their scary moments. The evolution made them now something more than a combination of a woman and a fish; they now have some vampiric aspects, i.e. teeth, as vampires are in nowadays, claws and they produce a cat-like cry when attacking. When calm, they still look gorgeous, though.
Wonderfully devised, these creatures speak English with a cute accent, as if it's a new language for them (isn't it?), that reminds the cute French accent --I have to congratulate the casting director here for choosing French debutant Astrid Bergès-Frisbey to feature as the amorous mermaid; she has the look. Mermaids are also cold-hearted and rarely cry, they grow legs if they are out of the water, obviously a Splash! legacy, where a stunningly young tall and blonde Daryl Hannah suffers when imprisoned, exactly like Syrena.
Ah, these mermaids. You really have to love them, to bear them. (And you maybe have to be Greek, to be obsessed with them).
