[Cortney Linnecke]

As an epic film, one of the first aspects of The Sand Pebbles that should be addressed is its length and how it functions. At a little over three hours The Sand Pebbles is able to take its time, and it does. Unlike many films today—which seem to feel the need to constantly captivate the short attention span of modern audiences with continuous action and drama—The Sand Pebbles slows the pace and leisurely establishes scenes, plots, and character relationships. At times I found the pace to be a bit languid, perhaps lacking in a crispness of dialogue and action. But for the most part I did not mind the pace of the film, as I thought it allowed time for establishing historical context and thoroughly fleshing out characters.

In terms of these characters, I thought Steve McQueen did an exceptional job acting the role of Jake Holman. He seemed natural and sincere onscreen, carrying himself comfortably and delivering lines in a way that was very organic, even in his moment of crisis when he tells Shirley, “Now go ahead. I’ll be along.” On the flip-side, I didn’t really care for Candice Bergen’s portrayal of Shirley. Especially in contrast to McQueen, her acting seemed a bit too contrived and her character was too smarmy for my tastes. I guess you could argue that the propriety and wholesomeness Bergen instilled in her character was appropriate for the role of an educated missionary, but I was not personally a fan.

Returning to the idea of an epic movie, I didn’t know what to expect out of the plot since I had never seen an epic film before. At first I thought it was a bit strange that there were so many plot threads that seemed to be dropped: Po-Han’s death was never touched on in the second half, and his bully Stawski never returned; Maily and Frenchy were killed off and their dreams of having a baby and moving to Shanghai never came to fruition. However, by the ending scene I was able to appreciate these threads not as individual plots, but rather as components in the sum of the film and the overarching character development of Jake Holman.

Up until the ending scene, Jake Holman was ironically not living up to his surname as a “whole-man.” He was a bit of a loner who preferred engines over people, and although he always tried to do what he thought was right, he always suffered from his decisions. We see this again and again: he says he was expelled from high school for trying to be responsible, he is asked to leave the San Pablo for shooting Po-Han and putting him out of his misery, and when he tries to be a good friend to Frenchy, he gets accused of killing Maily. In the final scene, however, Jake finally receives validation for his actions and intentions when Collins tells him he did a good job at the boom. Furthermore, his final act—dying to save Shirley and his comrades—proves that he has ultimately learned to love humans as much as he loves machines, even to the point of self-sacrifice. Emotionally speaking, Jake Holman has become a “whole man.” In this way, Jake’s death is perhaps disappointing but it is not unsatisfying, since he is able to die nobly and with arguably his greatest flaw resolved.

What the film leaves us to chew on, then, is the unresolved idea expressed in Holman’s last words: “What the hell happened?” This question can be asked on a grander scale in terms of the entire war with the Chinese. And in the political context of 1966, when this movie was released, it could have even been interpreted by the audience as a statement about the Vietnam War, as could the missionary Jameson’s words to Captain Collins, “[This is] because of you, and your blind pride. Damn your pride.”

In the end, this epic does a thorough job at capturing the growth and fulfillment in Jake Holman’s life—but it also goes beyond one man’s story to tackle issues of a greater scale grounded in historical, political, and even moral roots.

 

The Sand Pebbles. Dir. Robert Wise. 20th Century Fox, 1966. Film.

[Quinn Wright]

For a concise analysis, you cover a lot of good points about the film’s characters and cultural context. I agree entirely with your idea of the epic as a “sum of its parts” sort of film. It offers exactly what it needs to in terms of furthering the character development of Jake Holman, even with Frenchy and Mai Lee’s death. Although not entirely elaborated on (we never know exactly what happened to Mai Lee, only told that she died off screen), we can view these characters as stepping stones in the development of the protagonist, the hero.  The film itself is centered on his development, thus the fate of secondary characters are utilized to help further McQueen’s transition into the heroic figure. They are developed just enough to make them seem real to the viewer, and as such, to Jake Holman, just before their elimination as a means of developing his character.

[Mary Linden]

Review of The Sand Pebbles

After reading epics in various English classes, I wasn’t sure how the epic structure would translate to film; I assumed that such lengthiness would fail to engage a modern audience, but The Sand Pebbles proved me wrong. The film’s slow pace did not cause the story to drag on or lose focus, but rather, succeeded in that it allowed a fullness to develop in both character and plot. Keeping consistent with story’s epic scale, I thought that Jerry Goldsmith’s dramatic soundtrack complemented the film well, and helped to move plot along in moments when it could’ve gone stagnant. As Cortney noted in her review, The Sand Pebbles certainly takes its time, and it does so effectively, I think, as I found myself becoming very invested in Jake Holman’s world.
As he is the film’s protagonist, it wasn’t surprising that I was most engaged with the character of Jake Holman. I enjoyed his development–it was treated with subtly and, maybe due to the leisurely pace of the film, felt gradual and natural. Steve McQueen mastered this change in character, and managed to avoid the heavy-handed main character epiphanies that we often see at the end of films. I thought McQueen’s performance was consistent and authentic-feeling—he indulges in the image of a typical American sailor while also using enough nuance to push Jake Holman’s character beyond that of a caricature. Jake Holman is believable because he never has to explain how he’s changed; rather, he reveals his growth through action (taking mercy by shooting his friend, sacrificing himself to save Shirley, lending Frenchy money for Maily, etc.).
As far as the more marginal characters in the film, most of them fell somewhere in between feeling authentic and feeling like caricatures. The Chinese crew, Po-han especially, was often exaggerated in a seemingly racist way, though this is hard to assess given the year of production as well as the time period that the film was trying to capture. I strongly agree with Cortney’s assertion that Candice Bergen’s character was unlikeable. Shirley seemed excessively wholesome and positive, even for a missionary teacher, but maybe her character was intentionally exaggerated to create some sort of contrast next to Jake Holman.
I felt that the end of The Sand Pebbles was both jarring and satisfying, as we are left with an unsettling scene of war: our main character dies away from his ship, in a mostly empty, dimly lit courtyard. Though Jake Holman does die heroically, sacrificing himself to save another human, his death resonates more with confusion than it does with glory. His last words are “What the hell happened?” leaving us with a lack of resolve. I thought the entire scene was suggestive of uncomfortable conflict, a possible reflection of the political climate of the 1960s: tense, devastating and unresolved. In keeping consistent with the nature of an epic, The Sand Pebbles leaves us with a tragedy, a tragedy that is complicated enough to trace positive human development while also interweaving the larger questions of a country at war.

The Sand Pebbles. Dir. Robert Wise. 20th Century Fox, 1966. Film.

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