In the Heart of the Sea (2015)
Certified: 12A
Direction: 121 minutes
Directed by: Ron Howard
Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Benjamin Walker, Cillian Murphy, Tom Holland, Brendan Gleeson, Ben Whishaw, Michelle Fairley, Gary Beadle, Frank Dillane, Charlotte Riley, Donald Sumpter, Brooke Dimmock, Jamie Sives
KRS Releasing Ltd
In 1850, Herman Melville (Ben Whishaw) has just come to Tom Nickerson’s (Brendan Gleeson) home in Nantucket. He wants to know what had happened on board a whaling ship some 30 years before. Tom has a tale to tell but it’s a tale he has never shared with anyone…
At age 14, Thomas (Tom Holland) embarks on a whaling trip. Owen Chase (Chris Hemsworth), who is soon to become a father, was to become the captain but an unexperienced George Pollard (Benjamin Walker) takes the lead, the reason being that he comes from an influential family. Frictions run high.
Everyone is tense as the expedition sets off. On the trip there are also Pollard’s cousin Henry Coffin (Frank Dillane) and Owen’s childhood friend Matthew Joy (Cillian Murphy).
Their destination is the hunting grounds of the South Atlantic. They meet a Spanish captain who warns them that there is a murderous whale that brought down his ship. They do not heed his warning and venture further, trying to find a pack of whales that is said to be in the area.
When the ship finally reaches the whales, they realise that the murderous whale is a reality and nothing will be the same again on the high seas.
One must look at In The Heart of the Sea and its subject matter – whaling – from a different perspective than today’s. Whaling was considered a lucrative business and was accompanied by a sense of adventure mixed with coming-of-age manliness and a sense of noble romanticism. It in fact ended up being the inspiration for Herman Melville’s classic novel Moby Dick.
However, there are moments when the film looks at the whaling business with modern sensibilities and this happens when the camera seems to caress a whale’s corpse and invites and instigates the audience to react to this cruelty.
Ron Howard, the director behind such movies as Rush, Apollo 13 and Cocoon, here focuses on his cast who deliver performances that can easily be considered delightful, unpolished gems. The film especially revolves around Hemsworth’s character and he handles this well.
Howard also manages to transport his audience into the whaling ship to see how it works and creaks, and up-close and personal with the crew as they risk their lives on this perilous journey.
Meanwhile, the director strives to make us aware and fully conscious that this is not Moby Dick but a tale embedded in reality.