Port Royal Film Analysis

John Buckley is an 18 year old sailor who recently joined his uncle’s merchant ship after his father died. 6 years later during a voyage to the Americas, they are attacked by a Spanish pirate ship. Buckley’s uncle is killed in the ensuing battle although the ship survives the attack. He thus vows revenge on the Spanish, having lost his last family member and left with nothing.

Buckley takes over his uncle’s ship and travels to Port Royal, where he obtains a letter of marque from the governor to raid Spanish ships as a form of revenge. However, with England’s changing attitude towards privateering, he soon finds himself “jobless” and turns to full blown piracy in order to survive.

The film will be centred in and around the Caribbean Sea

Besides pirates, Port Royal was home to wealthy merchants and plantation owners due to the huge business of trade brought about by the pirates. England captured Port Royal from the Spanish in 1655. However, it did not have a navy strong enough to defend it from possible Spanish retaliation. Coupled with the Spanish restriction in trade, the town was left both defenseless and penniless. The governor hence started to invite buccaneers to Port Royal as a port of call and place to sell their plunder, providing a form of defense and source of income. While it was the buccaneers who brought wealth into Port Royal, it was the merchants who ran the town. Taverns, brothels and drinking houses were set up where pirates spent their gold which drove the local economy. Port Royal soon became one of the richest colonies in the Caribbean and transformed into a trading center for commodities like sugar and slaves. The standard of living in Port Royal at its peak was even claimed to have been on par, if not better than London’s.

Pirate stories often only revolve around treasure although in actual fact pirates were after more than that. Living life on the high seas for months on end took its toll on supplies on ships. Basic commodities like food, water and medical supplies were often stolen from ships too. The other more important loot that the pirates wanted was ships. As pirate crews got bigger and more powerful, they searched for bigger ships to “upgrade” to. This change from individual bodies to a larger more recognised body that eventually achieves legitimacy for its actions (aka privateering) can be dubbed the “cycle” of piracy. The “cycle” of piracy was affected by trade, power and driven by global politics. When seeking legitimacy, it was often politics that influenced the decisions of powers. The discovery of the riches in the New World brought about an increase in trade and economic improvement and pirates took advantage of the opportunities during conflicts between powers to make a fortune for themselves. The film would incorporate these aspects, with Buckley and his crew dangerously short on supplies, and celebrating as if they have found gold upon looting a Spanish merchant ship laden with food from the New