The Bluff: In Praise of Women Buccaneers, Especially Priyanka Chopra Jonas
By John Kirk
Rating: B+
There are two types of pirate film fans: those who love the genre for its thrilling adventure. Then there are the fans of actual piracy, the more bloody and violent the better.
The Bluff combines the salt and tang of piracy with a daring, bloody fight to the finish that will satisfy fans of all ranks and allegiances.
The story: an idyllic Cayman Island paradise with its towering bluffs is the home of Ercell Bodden (Priyanka Chopra Jonas) and her family T.H. Bodden (Ismael Cruz Cordova), her son, Isaac (Vedanten Naidoo) and her sister-in-law Eliabeth (Safia Oakley-Green). Ercell thought she put her pirate past behind her, but it storms her island paradise when the notorious buccaneer, Francisco Connor (Karl Urban) returns to wreak his vengeance upon Ercell, or as he remembers her: Bloody Mary.
Priyanka Chopra Jonas seeks the upper hand against Karl Urban in The Bluff.
It’s a simple premise but what really sells this story is its subtle shifts in tone. One moment, the audience is basking in the glow of the warm Cayman sun. The next moment, there’s a machete lodged edgewise in the skull of a pirate who invades Ercell’s home. The film, in its corrupted paradise setting, manages to keep the audience off-balance not knowing if Ercell and her family are safe.
Tweaking the pirate genre to make the hero a female pirate isn’t just a lark, but a reflection of historical accuracy in that there were indeed famous women buccaneers (think Anne Bonny, Ching Shih or Grace O’Malley). With Ercell’s bloody Mary, Priyanka Chopra Jonas presents a formidable hero who, motivated by the protection of her family, easily repudiates her own former criminal history. She’s honest, brutal and definitely a match for Karl Urban’s Captain Connor.
That gives way to another sterling attribute of the film: the rich backstories of all the characters and the curiosity it inspires. What did Ercell do to earn the vengeance of Captain Connor? Who makes up Connor’s crew and why do they follow them? It’s a film with complex and dynamic characters who are either endearing or intimidating.
Take Quartermaster Lee (Temuera Morrison). His own brutality is carefully governed by a strong sense of pragmatism and the code of the buccaneer. He is Connor’s right-hand man and wrestling between demands of loyalty and the dictates of practicality, he’s a visceral character who can’t be overlooked in this swashbuckling tale.
CLICK HERE to read my interview with Temuera Morrison.
If there is a criticism, it is that the audience needs to hear more about the roster of cut-throats and ne-er do-wells who follow Captain Connor. As I asked before: why do they follow him? There’s a lot of rich story that doesn’t make it to the forefront and only serves as ample background.
The mainstay of any pirate film is action, and in this, The Bluff does not disappoint. Swordplay, epic battles and the physicality demonstrated by Jonas, Urban and Morrison is truly epic. What is really exciting is the sense of planning that goes into Ercell’s protection of her family as she sets up the defences, traps, and cunning stratagems in the Bluff, the namesake of the film.
But Jonas needs to be commended for the impressive level of sheer athleticism she demonstrates as she goes toe-to-toe with Connor and his crew. Brawling, swords, or guns, she proves to be the match of any opponent she faces.
A female pirate may be historically accurate, but it is also a welcome subversion of the usual pirate trope. Of course, this continues as casual brutality replaces the extravagant flamboyance that usually is seen in pirate combat. There is no slash, parry, thrust, duck or weave as Errol Flynn would have it. In this film, there is only a savage sword point between the ribs. As Ercell affirms to her son: pirates are all murderers.
Pirates weren’t the oppressed rebels who daringly fought for glory and adventure. They were true villains who exacted their payment in blood and flesh. They were ruthless and would sink to the depths of depravity and desperation to achieve victory.
Win by any means, and that is certainly Ercell’s aim. She has much to fight for, and even greater to lose. Her desperation makes her fierce and the defence of the Bluff is a carefully choreographed one that definitely deserves acclaim.
In fact, the best acclaim is to watch the film and experience the piracy for yourself.
The Bluff. Directed by Frank E. Flowers. Starring Karl Urban, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Temuera Morrison, Ismael Cruz Cordova, Safia Oakley-Green, Vedanten Naidoo. Debuting on Prime Video February 25.