A man winds his way through the muck and mire of a 19th-century American port—Nantucket, center of the world’s whaling industry. He knocks on a door, enters, and begs an exhausted looking man to tell him his story in exchange for his life savings. He’s heard rumors, he says, rumors about the 1820 sinking of the Essex, a whaling ship. The man —played by Ben Whishaw—turns out to be Herman Melville. He’s searching for the true story that will lead him to write “Moby-Dick.”
Ever since its publication in 1851, “Moby-Dick” has sparked the imagination with its prophetic, digressive, and dangerous themes. So much so, it eclipsed the true story the novel is based on. But that real-life tale—that of a vengeful whale taking out a whaling ship—has now been adapted in true swashbuckling style by Ron Howard. The film, “In the Heart of the Sea” (released on Boxing Day), is based on Nathaniel Philbrick’s maritime history book of the same name.
