Take 32: In the Heart of the Sea

Tuesday: My "take" on a film.

In the Heart of the Sea (2015)

"Based on the incredible true story that inspired Moby Dick."

A massive white whale attacks and destroys a ship under the command of an inexperienced, prideful, and greedy captain. Herman Melville's novel, Moby Dick, is a fictionalized version of this actual event. Directed by Ron Howard, In the Heart of the Sea portrays the story of the 1820s disastrous expedition of the whaling ship Essex, and Melville's desire to write the tale.

The film opens with Herman Melville (Ben Whishaw) arriving in Nantucket where he coaxes the full account from Tom Nickerson (Brendan Gleeson), the last living survivor of the ill-fated voyage. The story flashes back to the time of his youth as they prepare to sail, and resurfaces periodically to the aged Nickerson recounting the events to Melville, purging his soul of suppressed ghastly memories.

HERMAN MELVILLE

The Devil loves unspoken secrets,

especially those that fester in a man's soul.

Benjamin Walker portrays the ship's captain, George Pollard, a man who came to that title mainly by family status. His Nantucket bloodline runs deep, a fact he holds over First Mate Owen Chase (Chris Hemsworth), an implant to the island--a "landsman"--descendant of farmers. They clash in leadership styles but share traits of arrogance and greed.

I found the story and movie more interesting than Moby Dick (but admittedly, I haven't given that novel much effort since high school lit). And, at risk of showing my ignorance, I didn't know Moby Dick came from a true story until learning about this film. 

The quality cinematography and special effects, along with some enormous action, kept my interest despite a few slows scenes of the crew adrift. It's worth watching this (can't resist the phrase)...whale of a tale.

Notes on content:

• No sexual situations or nudity except for a risqué figure of a woman carved in whalebone.
• Some mild swearing, numerous religious profanities and vain references to Deity.
• Violence of whale harpooning, some bloody scenes especially while butchering a whale for the blubber. Later, violence of the whale attacks, along with death and injuries. Disturbing images of the emaciated crew adrift, and implied abhorrent methods of survival (not shown on screen).

(I also wrote a review for ClearPlay, found here.)

Movie locations inspire vacation destinations.

Writing Prompt: Write a blog post inspired by the word: vacation.

Sometimes a film's breathtaking or intriguing location implants a desire to vacation there.


Here are some vacations of my dreams and the films that fueled them.

GREECE

• The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (2005), a somewhat forgettable movie, except for the scenes of Greece. When Lena (Alexis Biedel) rides a donkey up a path surrounded by blue domed white-washed buildings with glimpses of the deep blue sea while iconic Greek music plays, well… it calls out to me.

Start at 0:38

• The same with Mamma Mia! (2008). The main thing I remember is the beautiful scenery, and my desire to go there.

POSITANO, ITALY

• The film Only You (1994) highlights beautiful areas of Italy, but my favorite scenes take place in Positano. Breathtaking. 
• Under the Tuscan Sun (2003) also has a short scene in Positano.

Because of those films, when I went to Italy on an internship a few years ago, I made sure to visit Positano. Unfortunately, I only had about 45 minutes to enjoy it, and still feel disappointed over that. I could spend days there. Homes and buildings ascend the hillside connected by stairways everywhere. (I love stairs!) They say you don't walk to your neighbor's home, you climb. I want to return while I can physically handle it.

AUSTRALIA

• The Man from Snowy River (1982)
• Quigley Down Under (1990)
• and Australia (2008)

The locations and scenery in those films entice me to visit there. My husband and I dream of taking a train ride across that grand continent.

MONTANA

• A River Runs Through It (1992)
• The Horse Whisperer (1998)

Exotic places sound wonderful, but when I want Shangri-La, I go to Montana. Whenever I visit the Bitterroot Valley, a calmness washes over me. I feel peace. Films depicting Montana make me ache for the "big sky state."

Have movie locations inspired your vacation destinations?

It's my job!

Wednesday: Point of View

A company promoting family friendly films asked me to write reviews for their website, giving me an excellent excuse for frequent movie-time. (More on that in a future post.)

So... yesterday our handyman (and long-time friend) arrived to tile our bathroom floor. After discussing the back-breaking chore, I told him, "If you need me, I'll be downstairs working. Don't judge me… I'll be watching a movie."

"What? You're going to watch a movie while I'm up here slaving away?"

I laughed, "Hey, you chose your job, and I chose mine!"

It's a tough job but somebody's gotta do it, right?

I love my work.

Something I noticed...

I participated in the April Blogging from A to Z Challenge with a theme of "Making movie lines our own," and as I shared family stories about certain movie quotes, I noticed something: a majority of memorable lines my family use are from animated movies and/or films from the 90s.

Interesting.

What's with that?

I reflected on that during the past week and realized…

… The lines that stuck with us are from movies watched when our kids were young (in the 90s), which of course included many animated films. Watching and laughing with them made lines memorable.

… Most of the lines we quote are from comedies, and unfortunately it's harder to find good clean comedy from the past couple decades.

… Animated films use such clever dialogue. Those lines stick!

… Lines don't linger with me as much nowadays as I've gotten, well... older. I can remember things from years past but can't recall what movie I watched last week. (Wait, did we watch one last week??)

How about you? Do most of your favorite quotes come from a certain genre or decade(s)?