Thesis Statement: The film illustrated how greed and blood lust of the people can lead to a bitter end after several African Americans became victims of exploited labor force which is in the simplest form of slavery employed by the Native Americans, who took advantage of their ignorance during the 18th century.
1.) The block quotation that was chosen and was compressed in the film which and should have been more highlighted is the line, “As the price of whale oil continued to rise, while the economy of the other countries continued to suffer due to economic depression, Nantucket is soon to become the wealthiest town in the U.S.” (Philbrick 1).
What was lost in the film was that it was not able to show how the other countries suffered during that time, but how America wanted to maintain its super power stature. Nantucket is located in an Island in Massachusetts The film was focused on how the “Essex” or the whaling vessel was destroyed by the furious sperm whale, rather than focus on the realism. The main problem identified in the film is its shallow screenplay that hid the true story based in the novel. The lavish and the heavily digitized production design has veered away from realism. Overall, the movie has depicted Nantucket to be sanitized, which is not expected to happen in the early19th century (Burr 1). What was lost in the fictional movie is that the essence of the novel is not a tale of adventure. Rather, the film should have focused on the tragedy that occurred when the Essex sank because it is considered as one of the greatest true stories that has ever been told and it does not fit comfortably in commercial aspect of film-making.
Although the director was able to show the side of the tragedy where the wrath of the whale by killed several victims, the film relied more on the digitized production design. Here, the director was able to establish the relationship between nonfiction and fiction, by using the character of the young Melville, played by Ben Whishaw who made it appear that he got his story by visiting Nantucket. However, in reality, the novel was written by Melville himself and he did not even visit Nantucket at all (Zoller 1).
The film omitted an important part of the story as narrated in the book when Nantucketers whalers saw that there was no contradiction between their means of livelihood and their religion. They believed that God had given them the permission to dominate over his creations including all of the fishes that can be found in the sea. They did not see anything wrong with killing the whales in exchange of money. The rich and the powerful people even the millionaires believed in this concept that God himself gave them the permission to kill all the whales for they are only following the will of God. Such misconception was omitted in the film and should have been shown in order to make the audience understand that greed and lust for money has its negative consequences. In the movie, it was shown that greed influenced the leaders to become selfish and focus on themselves, and not how to unite their teams. The characters of both Chase and Pollard yearned to get rich quick at the expense of other people. After they were told that there were several whales that can be found in the Pacific, they were determined to become wealthy in a short span of time. The famous line of the crewman in the movie says it all when he said “Our captain and first mate were motivated by greed” (Dodd 1).
2.) The character of Chris Hemsworth should have been given more substance as how it was portrayed in the novel. His love for his family was his motivation to work harder as he wanted to provide for the needs of his family since there was a new baby that was about to be born and he has to be a good provider to his family. Chase did not hesitate to take expeditions even if it will prevent him from seeing his family that may be for months or years.
Three reviews on the acting of Chris Hemsworth as Owen Chase
Based on the review of Zoller, the character of Hemsworth was more focused on his macho physique and being a resentful first mate of Essex, who fought for his dear life in lifeboats (Zoller 1). In the review of McCarthy, he also focused on the physical form of Hemsworth who was described as the brawny mate that everyone in the ship will confidently entrust their lives (1). It can be seen that Hemsworth was merely seen as an eye candy in the film. In the review of Burr, he said that Hemsworth became the film’s manly hero after he was typecasted in his role as Thor. Hemsworth also had a hard time to relay the New England accent required in the film’s setting (Burr 1). The similarity of the three reviews would show that Hemsworth was being assessed based on his looks and not on his acting performance.
Towards the climax of the film, the characters of Owen Chase and George Pollard became significant when they spoke about the offense they did and why they have to upset God to deserve punishment. It was the character of Pollard that stood out when he still insisted that that the only creature to have offended is the whale and not God. Chase then seriously told Pollard that arrogance and greed were the causes for the sinking of the whaleship “Essex”. The character of George Pollard remained mighty proud when he said that all people are supreme creatures that do not deserve punishment since man was created in the image and likeness of God. Pollard is in denial and continued to believe he is a supreme being that should be treated as a king. He believed that if he died, it was the will of God and we should adjust to the nature to one’s will. George Pollard: We sail into the sun at dawn. If we are to die, then with God's grace, let us die as men.
Another character that is noteworthy to mention is Captain Hussey, who was determined to get rich quick after he accidentally discovered his fortune when he found a sperm whale as the abundant source of oil. The discovery of Hussey led to the inception of the whaling industry in Nantucket Island where cheap work force became the top priority. The African Americans accepted the job to earn a living, which in effect has been recognized as exploitation of labor, that forms part of slavery that was rampant during that century. After the discovery of Captain Hussey of the sperm whale, wherein the oil produced from the was far more superior than the other whales since the oil from the sperm whale can produce a brighter burning light. At the same time, the head of the sperm whale contains greater volume of better oil which the people can use as reservoir.
With such discovery, the laborers were later known as the Nantucket whalers who hunted for whales and thereby causing the extinction of the local whale population. These laborers all came from the same place in Nantucket and were forced to sail as throughout Africa and South America in order to meet their projected quotas. This is a clear example of slavery during that century.
The whaling business can be regarded as one of the most dangerous businesses due to the unavoidable and hazardous mishaps and accidents that can occur. Thus, all those who joined the expedition knew that any Nantucket man is capable to fulfill his mission with a sense of responsibility, honor and merit of his profession, to the best of his abilities despite the presence of a clear and present danger. Thus, there is no doubt that the whale hunters knew that he must stand by his laurels like the soldier’s, and have no fear of any risk or danger (Chase 3).
In fact, throughout the film, there were at least seven black men who formed part of the Essex’s crew for cheap wages. The exploitation of labor is the highlight of the film since the people from Nantucket were led to believe that hunting for whales is the only way to earn a living. Young boys as early as 6 years old were trained to stay in the cold waters in high altitudes by their parents. When these young men reach the pass the age of 20, they are allowed to return on the warmer waters and spend about 8 hours in his home and departs again. Even the women were trained to help the males in hunting whales believing that it was the most lucrative opportunity to earn money.
Towards the end of the film, the viewers will realize that the movie was not executed in accordance with the novel since it was far from how it was written by the author. In fact, it can only be considered as a film that talks about the personal misfortune and tragedy of a few people. Thus, the movie should have concentrated more on the issues such as preserving the creations of God and not to engage in trades such as the whaling industry, which is in complete defiance with the teachings of God. Thus, the personal will of a few who want to rule on how the world should work are markings of greed, revenge, obsession and madness (McCarthy 1). Compared to the novel, the movie can be considered as more of a longer version of an anecdote.
3.) As the film was near its end, there was a narrative closure since the film has a definite and final ending that has conformed to the closed narrative format. During the latter part of the movie, it was shown that Chase and Pollard gave their testimonies to explain how the Essex sunk. In order to save their business, they lied by asserting false statements in order to trick probable investors through deception and fraud. In fairness to Chase, he wanted to tell the true events as to how the Essex sank in the sea and to show how real men are tested (Puchko 1). As opposed to Pollard, he stuck with his reasoning that the whale was the main cause why Essex sunk.
The line that Melville said towards the end of the film was “The courage to go where one does not want to go” as he spoke to Mr. Nickerson sums up the story. Here, it was courage that moved Pollard and Chase to hunt for whales despite the dangers that they may encounter during their search. They risked their lives to go for their dream to become wealthy and secure their future. The audience will see the message that the director wants to convey in the end about humanity’s realization that whales are endangered species that are considered as intelligent mammals and not just big fishes caught in the sea. The director also wanted to relay to the audience that the movie is a story of corporate ethics as the whaling company forced the survivors to lie about the facts of how the ship sank because they want to recover their losses from the insurance carriers.
Works Cited:
Burr, Ty. “In the Heart of the Sea is epic and ridiculous.” Boston Globe.com 11 December 2015,
https://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/movies/2015/12/10/heart-sea-epic-and-ridiculous/DTQNrmuO03dDervDH5BhTO/story.html. Accessed 30 January 2017.
Chase, Owen. Narratives of the Wreck of the Whale-Ship Essex. New York: Dover Publications,
2015. Print.
Dodd, Brian. “21 Leadership Quotes and Lessons from in the Heart of the Sea”. 12 December
2015, http://briandoddonleadership.com/2015/12/12/21-leadership-quotes-and-lessons-from-in-the-heart-of-the-sea/.
McCarthy, Todd. “In the Heart of the Sea: Film Review”. Hollywood Reporter.com.
15 December 2015, http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/heart-sea-film-review-845005. Accessed 30 January 2017.
Philbrick, Nathaniel. In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex. New York:
Penguin Books, 2001. Print.
Puchko, Kristy. In The Heart of the Sea: 21 Fascinating Facts We Learned on the Set of Ron
Howard's Latest. CinemaBlend.com. 2015, http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Heart-Sea-21-Fascinating-Facts-We-Learned-Set-Ron-Howard-Latest-68907.html. Accessed 30 January 2017.
Zoller Seitz, Matt. In the Heart of the Sea. Roger Ebert.com. 11 December 2015, http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/in-the-heart-of-the-sea-2015. Accessed 30 January 2017.
