Story of movie In The Heart Of The Sea Film :
In the Heart of the Sea is a 2015 adventure-drama film directed and produced by Ron Howard and written by Charles Leavitt. It is based on Nathaniel Philbrick's non-fiction book of the same name, about the sinking of the American whaling ship Essex in 1820, an event that inspired the novel Moby-Dick. An international co-production between the United States and Spain, the film stars Chris Hemsworth, Benjamin Walker, Cillian Murphy, Tom Holland, Ben Whishaw, and Brendan Gleeson.
| In the Heart of the Sea | |
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| Directed by | Ron Howard |
| Produced by |
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| Screenplay by | Charles Leavitt |
| Story by |
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| Based on | In the Heart of the Sea by Nathaniel Philbrick |
| Starring |
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| Music by | Roque Baños |
| Cinematography | Anthony Dod Mantle |
| Edited by |
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Production companies |
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| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 121 minutes |
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| Language | English |
| Budget | $100 million |
| Box office | $93.9 million |
The film premiered in New York City on December 7, 2015, and was released in cinemas in the United States on December 11, 2015, by Warner Bros. Pictures. In the Heart of the Sea received mixed reviews from critics, and grossed $93 million against a $100 million budget.
Screenplay
In 1850, author Herman Melville visits innkeeper Thomas Nickerson, the last survivor of the sinking of the whaleship Essex, offering money in return for his story. Nickerson initially refuses, but then finally agrees when his wife intervenes.
The story turns to 1820: a whaling company in Nantucket has refitted the Essex to participate in the lucrative whale oil trade, and 14-year-old Nickerson signs on as a cabin boy. The owners hire veteran whaler Owen Chase as first mate, though he is disappointed not to receive a captain's commission. The captain is George Pollard, an inexperienced mariner from an established whaling family who envies Chase's skill and popularity. Chase and Pollard clash, leading Pollard to sail into a storm against Chase's advice. The two agree to put their differences aside, rather than risking their reputations by returning to port without profit, and soon, the crew kills their first bull sperm whale.
Three months pass with no further successes, and Pollard realizes that the Atlantic Ocean holds no sighting of whales. The Essex sails past Cape Horn to the Pacific, hoping for better luck in catching one. In Atacames, Ecuador, the officers meet a Spanish captain who tells them his crew found the bountiful "Offshore Grounds" 2,000 miles to the west, but claims that a vengeful "white whale" destroyed his ship, killing six of his men. Denying the story as a myth, Pollard and Chase lead the expedition west. They find the undisturbed grounds, but when they launch the whaling boats, the white whale, a massive albino bull sperm whale attacks, damaging the boats and turning on the ship.
Chase harpoons it from the Essex's deck, but the whale staves the ship in half, killing two men. The crew abandons the sinking Essex in the three intact whaling boats, and must sail hundreds of miles to shore with very limited supplies. The whale follows and attacks again, but they escape to the tiny Henderson Island. While gathering food, Chase discovers the corpses of earlier castaways, and concludes that the crew will soon die on the island before another ship passes by. Four men decide to stay, while the rest set sail again on the boats with hopes to find land. Soon after, one of the men dies, and the remaining crew reluctantly decide to cannibalize him.
The older Nickerson is overcome by emotion and stops his story; however, when his wife comforts him, he feels encouraged enough to finish. Back in the 1820s, the three boats separate and one is lost. The other two further resort to cannibalism to survive, with Pollard's cousin Henry Coffin sacrificing himself.
The whale returns, and Chase gets into position for a final attack. The whale breaches for a moment, allowing Chase to observe a portion of his previously thrown harpoon still embedded in the whale's skull. Chase hesitates, and stares into the whale's left eye. He decides not to attack. Following this encounter, the whale swims away peacefully, and is never seen again.
A passing ship rescues Pollard's boat, but Chase's boat continues to drift with no food or water. Finally, with the survivors on the verge of death, they reach land. The survivors return to Nantucket and finally reunite with their distraught families. The ship's owners ask Pollard and Chase to cover up the story to protect the industry, but after Chase refuses to go along, Pollard reveals the truth in the inquiry.
Nickerson relates that a ship was sent to Henderson Island to rescue the surviving men there, Chase continued sailing the seas and became a merchant captain, and Pollard led another expedition to kill the whale, but the ship wrecked and he was forced to retire. Melville departs, to compose his novel, Moby-Dick, beginning by writing its first line: "Call me Ishmael".
- Chris Hemsworth as Owen Chase, the first mate
- Benjamin Walker as Captain George Pollard Jr.
- Cillian Murphy as Matthew Joy, the second mate
- Tom Holland as Thomas Nickerson, the cabin boy
- Brendan Gleeson as Old Thomas Nickerson
- Ben Whishaw as Herman Melville
- Michelle Fairley as Mrs. Nickerson
- Gary Beadle as William Bond
- Frank Dillane as Owen Coffin
- Edward Ashley as Barzillai Ray
- Charlotte Riley as Peggy Chase
- Donald Sumpter as Paul Macy
- Brooke Dimmock as Phoebe Chase
- Jamie Sives as Isaac Cole
- Joseph Mawle as Benjamin Lawrence
- Paul Anderson as Caleb Chappel
- Luca Tosi as William Wright
Casting
Chris Hemsworth was cast to play the lead, Owen Chase, in June 2012. Tom Holland won the role of young Nickerson in April 2013. Cillian Murphy signed on as Matthew Joy in June. Before Benjamin Walker was set to play the Captain, other actors that were considered included Benedict Cumberbatch, Tom Hiddleston, and Henry Cavill. The film was in development back in 2000, with Barry Levinson set to direct for Miramax Films.
Filming
Principal photography began in September 2013 in London and at Leavesden Studios in Hertfordshire, England. It was also shot on location on the island of La Gomera (plus some scenes on Lanzarote) in the Canary Islands, Spain. For the storm scenes, the production team built a water tank at Leavesden Studios, where a deck was built on top of a gimbal to mimic the pitch of a storm. To get the right effect, 500 gallons of icy water were poured from cannons.
During one point of filming, the cast and crew were forced to retreat to their hotel by a storm off the Canary Islands, which turned into a rare flash flood. The production shut down for a day and a half, expanding the shoot to 73 days, exactly as filmmakers expected.
In an interview with Jimmy Kimmel, Hemsworth stated that to prepare for the role of starving sailors, the cast were on a diet of 500–600 calories a day to lose weight. Hemsworth also had to drop his weight from 215 to 175 pounds to play Owen, saying that In the Heart of the Sea is "physically and emotionally the hardest movie that I've been a part of... Losing the weight to this length, I just never want to do it again, but it had such an emotional effect on us... in some small way, we felt like we were doing what these men went through justice."
Music
Roque Baños composed the film score.
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