The story is about the Essex, a whaling ship that was, amazingly, sunk by a whale. The story is told through a flashback from one of the survivors of the journey and follows them from just before the cruise through their eventual rescue and return to Nantucket.
While "In the Heart of the Sea" is a bit overlong, it is a tremendously well made film. The script, not surprisingly, takes a few liberties with the actual story but is, overall, essentially factual*. But what really blew me away was the look of the film-- the 1820 New England landscape, the ship and the whale attacks. While you know that most of this was done using CGI, you simply cannot tell by looking at it...it looks so amazingly real.
*Several liberties were taken. A big one is the way the story is told--by the one survivor of the Essex affair back in 1950 who relates his story to Herman Melville. Well, this didn't happen...but it does make for a neat way to tell the story, so I didn't mind this. Additionally, First Mate Chase and his post-Essex life are COMPLETELY different from the way they're portrayed in the film. In each case, the changes were made to make the film more cinematic and enjoyable but also remind you that the actual story is a tad different.
While "In the Heart of the Sea" is a bit overlong, it is a tremendously well made film. The script, not surprisingly, takes a few liberties with the actual story but is, overall, essentially factual*. But what really blew me away was the look of the film-- the 1820 New England landscape, the ship and the whale attacks. While you know that most of this was done using CGI, you simply cannot tell by looking at it...it looks so amazingly real.
*Several liberties were taken. A big one is the way the story is told--by the one survivor of the Essex affair back in 1950 who relates his story to Herman Melville. Well, this didn't happen...but it does make for a neat way to tell the story, so I didn't mind this. Additionally, First Mate Chase and his post-Essex life are COMPLETELY different from the way they're portrayed in the film. In each case, the changes were made to make the film more cinematic and enjoyable but also remind you that the actual story is a tad different.