...so grand in scale that it isn’t easily digested in one viewing.
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Every once in a while I come across a film that is difficult to accurately review. "The Sand Pebbles" is one such film and finds company with films such as "Dances with Wolves" as an example of a film that I find to be top-notch, but rather difficult to easily sit through in one sitting. These films are masterfully crafted works of art that tells a strong and powerful story. They are well acted and well directed. They are lengthy epics that cover a lot of plot and ground through their frames, but long stretches of these quality films become dull and tedious to watch. Both "Dances with Wolves" and "The Sand Pebbles" are films I would recommend to others to watch, but they are not films I would necessarily recommend to everybody. Essentially, these are movies that I liked a great deal, but I feel are not of cloth I´d want to subject everybody to.
"The Sand Pebbles" is a 1966 picture by legendary director Robert Wise who is best remembered for the classics "The Sound of Music" and "West Side Story." Others may prefer Wise´s science fiction classic "The Day the Earth Stood Still" and "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" or the submarine drama "Run Silent, Run Deep." These are only a couple of the many films directed by Wise and "The Sand Pebbles" is a picture that the majority of folk have very little knowledge of. Based upon the 1962 novel of the same name by Richard McKenna, this expensive and epic undertaking was a project very dear to Wise and the director had to fight for a couple of years to gain studio backing for this expensive project. Oddly enough, "The Sound of Music" was a project Wise agreed to do while waiting to film "The Sand Pebbles" and while it is hard to find somebody not familiar with that classic, "The Sand Pebbles" is one of his finest films and unknown to most.
The film is not without a notable list of actors lending their talents under Wise. Steve McQueen was one of the biggest names in Hollywood after starring in the classic war films "The Magnificent Seven" and "The Great Escape." It wouldn´t be until after "The Sand Pebbles," for which McQueen earned his only Academy Award nomination that he would become a superstar with "Bullet," "The Towering Inferno" and "The Getaway," but his performance in this film may very well be his finest. Sir Richard Attenborough earned a Golden Globe award for his performance in the film and had worked with McQueen in "The Great Escape." Today´s audiences know Attenborough best for his role in the "Jurassic Park" films, but the veteran actor and director puts forth a very strong and powerful performance in "The Sand Pebbles."
The supporting cast is full of familiar faces as well. Richard Crenna is best known for being the mentor to John Rambo in the Sylvester Stallone films, but he in "The Sand Pebbles" he is the commanding officer to McQueen and Attenborough´s characters. Candice Bergen first major acting role was as the love interest to McQueen and her turn as an optimistic and young teacher was one of her finest outings before co-star Attenborough cast her in his 1982 classic "Ghandi." The "Love Boat´s" captain Gavin MacLeod took the role of second-in-charge under Crenna in "The Sand Pebbles" and I must say that if I didn´t see his name listed in the credits, I would not have recognized him. Finally, veteran Japanese character actor Mako Iwamatsu earned a well-deserved Academy Award nomination in a tragic role that provided a lot of humanity to "The Sand Pebbles."
The film is set on the Yangtze River in 1926. China is still recovering from their 1911 revolution and the United States has a presence in missionaries and in gunboats on the large Chinese river. The San Pablo, nicknamed Sand Pebble, is one such boat and is commanded by Captain Collins (Richard Crenna). They crew is bolstered when Machinist´s Mate Jake Holman (Steve McQueen) transfers to the San Pablo after a journey where he caught the eye of a young teacher named Shirley Eckert (Candice Bergen). Holman quickly finds himself at odds on the San Pablo when he is unable to accept the labor system run by the ship´s captain where Chinese laborers called ´coolies´ do nearly all of the work. Not all of the crew is accepting to Holman´s desire to buck the system and do all of his own labor, but Frenchy Burgoyne (Richard Attenborough) quickly becomes a close friend.
The coolies are essentially a body of union-run labor and managed by one Chinese individual. Problems begin to arise between Holman and the Captain when the Machinist´s Mate points out that a bearing on the ship´s engine is ready to give out at any moment and that the San Pablo must be stopped for repairs. This is against orders given to the Captain to fly the American flag and steam down the river in a show of presence of the American gunboat. Second-in-Command Crosley (Gavin MacLeod) agrees with the assessment of Holman and the ship is stopped for repair work. During this time and incident claims the life of the boss coolie for the engine room and Holman soon finds himself at odds against the coolies. He is ordered to train a replacement and discovers that Po-han (Mako) is both eager and intelligent enough to handle the duties.
From this point forward, I would betray important plot lines if I divulged much more of the story. Frenchy does befriend and fall in love with an indentured hostess, Maily (Emmanuelle Arsan), at a Chinese brothel and this relationship causes further strain between Holman and practically everybody surrounding him. The political climate in the post-revolution nation is in complete upheaval and a power struggle has the Chinese people becoming disgruntled at the presence of American gunboats such as the San Pablo and the crew of the steamer is soon required to help missionaries such as Shirley escape the hostile environment. Holman finds himself with fewer and fewer friends as events occur in the plotline and the San Pablo becomes an unfriendly place for the sailor who just wanted to work with the ship´s engines.
"The Sand Pebbles" is a tragic story where a large number of characters suffer heart-breaking ends. Some main and supporting characters do not live to see the closing credits and the film doesn´t involve much of a happy ending. In fact, the ending to "The Sand Pebbles" is far from containing any warm and fuzzies. This mirrors the similar feelings to the ending of "Dancing with Wolves" and while I found the film to be entertaining and worth my three hours of time, it is an involved and intricate tale that requires a viewer´s complete attention to fully appreciate and often feels like a chore. Chores aren´t always a bad thing and can often times reap rewards when completed. I found myself watching "The Sand Pebbles" over a course of two nights; not because I was bored with the film, but I found its three hour length just a little heavy to digest in one sitting.
This is a classic and moving picture that gives an unflinching look at love gained and love lost. It looks at some of the darker aspects of humanity and is not afraid to spill a little blood to deliver its message. The film details the social and racial crimes that were committed during American ´patrolling´ during a turbulent time in China´s history. It looks at how American sailors inadvertently abused and misused Chinese labor under the false pretense that they were doing the right thing and that their actions would strengthen their relationship with the Chinese. The falling out was tragic and the soon-to-be Communist nation´s backlash against the American sailors was gut-wrenching. This film is a downer.
It is masterfully directed by Robert Wise and nicely acted by the likes of Steve McQueen and Richard Attenborough. It is a beautifully shot picture that does not paint the prettiest picture, but brings the beauty of the Yangtze River to the screen. "The Sand Pebbles" was a labor of love for Wise and he worked hard to bring this epic to the big screen and now that "The Sand Pebbles" exists on the Blu-ray format, the film can now find a new audience to appreciate the finely crafted motion picture. It isn´t the easiest film to sit through. It is abundant with pain and suffering and what few happy moments that present themselves in the film are typically destroyed before "The Sand Pebbles" ends. I found this 1966 movie an important film that was well worth my three hours of time, but as I have previously mentioned, this is a movie that feels laborious to watch at times because of its heavy story and dark tone. It is a great film, but not one that is easy to sit through.
Video:
The Panavision-based film is presented onto Blu-ray with its original 2.35:1 wide aspect ratio. "The Sand Pebbles" is mastered digitally with the MPEG 2 codec and uses a bitrate of 20 MBPS. This aged picture has fortunately held up well and looks absolutely stunning in high definition. The classic John Wayne film "The Searchers" has long been the standard for how to present a vintage catalog title in high definition and it sets a high bar, but "The Sand Pebbles" nearly reaches the heights set by that earlier release from Warner Bros. and with is high level of detail, gorgeous coloring and stable and clean transfer, "The Sand Pebbles" is one of the better catalog titles I have had the pleasure to witness at 1080p on Blu-ray in a few months. This is a solid looking release.
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[release]23510[/release]