The audience becomes the officers

Rating: 8/10 (9 October 2005)

One of the most amazing things about The Caine Mutiny is the way the direction of the movie totally controls the audience, first to believe that the mutiny against Queeg was valid, and after Lt. Greenwald drunkenly reveals his true feelings at the party after the trial, to then feel the guilt and shame that all the officers involved, especially Lt. Keefer, must surely have felt about their actions. It is almost as if when Jose Ferrer berates all the officers, he is berating the audience as well. Captain Queeg is a fascinating character from the moment he brings those little silver balls out of his pocket in his first meeting with his officers. From the beginning of his tour of duty, his own actions begin to call his judgment into question. By the time of the penultimate scene during the typhoon, the audience is likely to be convinced that Lt. Maryk and the other officers had every reason to commit the mutiny. Lt. Greenwald does such a masterful job of making Captain Queeg reveal his paranoia on the stand that the audience still floats along thinking that the mutiny was the right thing to do. But by the time Lt. Greenwald speaks at the party, the audience is shown another perspective--that the whole mutiny was the logical result of the initial doubts that Lt. Keefer put in Lt. Maryk's mind earlier on and that maybe Captain Queeg, as an honored Naval officer, deserved more respect after all. Sure, Captain Queeg was eccentric, but did he really deserve to be the victim of a mutiny? Of course, the only way to know for sure would have been to not have the mutiny, continue to follow the Captain's orders, and see whether or not the Caine would have survived the storm. If the Caine sank, then Queeg should have been relieved of his duties by mutiny. I don't know if the odds would have been worth it for all the officers and crew of the Caine.