In the Heart of the Sea: the True Story Behind Moby Dick

In the Heart of the Sea is not the most family-friendly tale.
Photo courtesy of IMDB.com

Many of us probably remember Herman Melville’s “Moby-Dick” from when we were younger; some of us may have even had to read it in school at some point. Not many people know, however, that Melville’s seminal tale is based off a true story. This winter, Chris Hemsworth starred in a film titled In the Heart of the Sea from director Ron Howard (Rush, The Da Vinci Code, A Beautiful Mind), which tells the very true story of the whaleship Essex, originally launched in 1799. Be warned, this tale is not for the faint of heart.

    The movie tells the history of the ship’s sinking in 1820, at the peak of the Nantucket, Massachusetts whale oil industry. One of the most profitable whaling ships at the time, the Essex was deemed lucky and, after a refitting, was sent out on her final journey in 1819 captained by George Pollard and his First Mate Owen Chase (portrayed in the film by Benjamin Walker and Chris Hemsworth respectively). After being at sea for months with little success, Captain Pollard decides to follow rumors to whaling grounds 2,000 miles west of Ecuador, despite the tale of a vengeful white whale destroying the ship of a Spanish captain and killing six of his men.

    Once they reach the bountiful waters, the Essex is attacked by the albino sperm whale and capsizes, killing two of the crew and leaving the rest of the crew, twenty sailors in total, stranded in three whaling boats with jerry-rigged sails. The boats drift for days, but before they can die of thirst, the sailors reach an uninhabited island. After finding skeletal remains on the island, all but three of the crew decide to attempt to continue on to Easter Island.

    Stranded at sea, drifting for more than 80 days, and running out of food and fresh water, when members of the crew begin to die, the rest finally turn to cannibalism as their last hope for survival. Once they had exhausted the dead bodies, crew members drew lots in order to decide who would be killed and eaten. 89 days after the sinking of the Essex, Chase’s whaleboat was rescued by a passing whaling ship, with a total of three survivors; 93 days after the sinking of the Essex, Captain Pollard’s whaleboat was rescued with a total of two survivors; the third whaleboat was lost with three men inside. The three men who stayed behind on the island were rescued in April of 1821.

    The movie is told from the point-of-view of now-grown Thomas Nickerson (portrayed by Brendan Gleeson), who was a cabin boy on the Essex when it sunk as he tells his story to Herman Melville (portrayed by Ben Whishaw). After the tale is told, we are shown Melville leaving Nickerson’s home and eventually sitting down to pen the famous first words of “Moby Dick”: “Call me Ishmael.”

    A frightening, heart-wrenching tale of men and their readiness to do anything to survive, the sinking of the whaleship Essex is probably one of the darker moments in American history, providing a harrowing look into the potential danger posed by the whaling industry. As with any on-screen adaptations, the film takes a slight creative license from the recorded recollections of Owen Chase and 14 year-old cabin boy Thomas Nickerson, as well as from the non-fiction novel it takes its title from. Despite its 42% critic rating on Rotten Tomatoes, I recommend In the Heart of the Sea to anyone who enjoys movies with a bit of action, a lot of heart, and a feeling of gritty realism.