MOBY DICK is famed as one of the greatest and most difficult
to read novels of all time. The tale of a man obsessed with the destruction of
a legendary white whale that took his leg and left him scarred has long been
considered an allegorical tale of good and evil, looks at the differences in
class structure and discusses the existence of God. At 822 pages that’s a lot
to transfer to a movie that last only an hour and 56 minutes but somehow it was
done.
The story itself tells the tale of a young seaman named
Ishmael (Richard Basehart) who signs aboard the ship Pequod, a whaling vessel
run by one Captain Ahab (Gregory Peck). Ishmael is bunkmates his first night
before they sail with a tattooed harpooner named Queequeg who has a set of
shrunken heads on hand in the room. The two start off tentative but become fast
friends as Queequeg teaches Ishmael the ways of the ship.
Eventually Ishmael meets the famed Captain Ahab who promises
his crew to return with their ship filled with whale oil and success for all on
board. But Ahab is a strange sort who also has an ulterior motive. He doesn’t
just seek whales but one in particular, a white albino whale feared by all and
known as Moby Dick. The desire to find the whale is one filled with revenge as
it was Moby Dick who took the leg from Ahab on another voyage.
The majority of the movie takes the time to set up the final
confrontation between man and beast. Segments on dry land before the ship sets
sail include a scene set in a church where the pastor preaches from the bow of
a ship installed in the church. That pastor is played by Orson Welles who is
nearly unrecognizable. The journey of the men, the harsh penalties for wrong
doing and the long wait to find the whales they seek all take up a portion of
the time.
When the great white whale is finally found Ahab promises
those who follow him untold fortunes if they will but help him destroy the
whale. His obsession with the whale becomes their own and all seem to set aside
not just the fortune in whale oil they’ve already filled the ship with but
their own safety as well. Larger than the ship they sail on the white whale
seems as determined to insure none of them leave alive and the battle between
man and beast is on display.
The movie is a mixed bag, entertaining for some and tedious
for others. That it is a well-made film that tackled the chore of bringing the
novel to life is worth noting and for that matter makes it one worth seeing as
well. While the cast does a great job it is Peck who stands out as the near mad
Ahab, determined to have his revenge at all costs.
The effects for the time are amazing to witness and the
sequences involving the whale are fantastic. Done before the days of CGI as it
would be accomplished now, the movie here offers practical effects. The whale
is a terrifying sight to behold and imagining what it would be like to confront
it on its own ground would be something I for one would choose to avoid.
Twilight Time is releasing the film in blu-ray format and as
with all of their titles limiting it to just 3,000 copies. If interested make
sure you pick yours up right away.
Click here to order.
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