Summary
At the dawn of the 19th century, Lieutenant Nolan finds himself seduced by the ambitious whispers of the Burr conspiracy, a move that seals his fate in the annals of American judicial lore. During a high-stakes trial for treason, Nolan’s pride curdles into a venomous rejection of his heritage; he declares a fervent wish to never hear the name of the United States again. The court, in a stroke of poetic and literal justice, grants him his wish with terrifying precision. Sentenced to a life of perpetual exile upon the high seas, Nolan is shuttled from one naval vessel to another, a ghost in a blue uniform forbidden from receiving news, reading papers, or hearing even a whisper of his homeland. As decades pass, the film tracks his transformation from a hot-blooded rebel into a hollowed-out vessel of regret, navigating the waters of Algiers and the pirate-infested Caribbean, while his devoted sweetheart, Anne Bissell, wages a decades-long, futile war against the bureaucracy of the presidency to bring him home. It is a haunting study of how a single moment of spoken defiance can become a lifelong cage of silence.
Synopsis
Early in the 19th century, Lieutenant Nolan becomes involved in the Burr conspiracy. When Burr is tried for treason, Nolan refuses to reaffirm his allegiance to the United States and declares openly that he hopes never again to see or hear anything of the United States. He is court-martialed and sentenced to be placed on an American warship, never again to see his native land, or to hear mention of it. Years pass: Nolan is transferred from ship to ship in the Navy and sees action with Decatur at Algiers and later in an encounter with a pirate ship. Nolan's sweetheart, Anne Bissell, appeals in vain to a succession of Presidents to have him pardoned. When the Civil War begins, Nolan is a broken old man, passionate in his love for his country. He is finally pardoned by President Lincoln, but he dies on receipt of the news.