Moby Dick
|
List Price: Our Price: $7.83 You Save: $7.15 (48%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $4.25 (click here) Category: DVD See more DVD releases |
|---|
Canada
Movie Reviews of Moby Dick
Movie Review: A modern moby dick
Summary: 4 Stars
Many of the problems of this production relate to the attempt to compress a cadenced epic into 2 hours. That is to say they are understandable and forgivable. But it also has some gratuitous changes that radically alter major themes in the book and I would say create a more modern sensibility. Hardcore Moby Dick fans and originalists should be aware of this going in, or they will likely spout blood and turn belly up.
The first and foremost of these changes was the decision to jettison Ahab's demonic boat crew, headed by Zoroastrian Fedallah. Ahab's smuggling a private boat crew on board is part and parcel of his blasphemous megalomania and shutting off from the ship of society. Likewise Fedallah's hubris-inspiring oracles are also the portal through which the familiar ancient greek tragedy structure is conveyed into the book, and the primary vehicle by which the supernatural is kept near at hand. But this is all eliminated, while room is made for a 2 minute musical number at the Spouter Inn. If this were a decision of filmmaking convenience, it would be unforgivable. By the end, it's pretty clear that something else is going on. Ahab's blasphemy and hubris is deliberately muted throughout, and the entire production is deliberately less supernatural.
I think you have to jump to the altered ending to really get the gist of what was going on here. In this movie ending, instead of dead Fedallah lashed to the whale, we have dead Ahab, caught up in his own ropes of revenge, with the rythmic sea swell imparting a beckoning motion to his dead arm. Instead of a warning to Ahab, we have a grotesque and senseless final temptation for the crew to follow his madness. And they do, as steadfast, moral Starbuck is lured over to Ahab's side. Turning against his own earlier admonitions both to Ahab on the deck and to Stubb and Flask in the cabin, Starbuck casts off into calamity. He simultaneously follows a literally senseless natural command (Ahab's dead waving), and makes a blasphemy of his profession, implying their job as whalers is simply to go to war with nature and to kill, rather than to reap a holy harvest for the good of their fellow men as he earlier maintained. "After him... we are whaling men, no less. We don't run from whales, we kill 'em. We'll kill Moby Dick!" Thus with the death of Ahab, the madness that has spread in the crew inexplicably penetrates the moral loadstar.
As Starbuck orders the pursuit of the whale, the massive white fist of god turns on the ship and total calamity ensues. This is obviously a monumental change from the book. Upon consideration, this ending underscores the point that the movie presents a whole different variation on the book's theme of blasphemous monomania. The screenplay sounds notes more resonant with the banality of evil and the natural metastasis of madness -- a strain movie-Starbuck himself touches on at the end of his little legal insurrection scene. "Thus madmen create more madmen," he laments, a statement and sentiment not really in the book, but certainly a predominant theme of the post WWII years. This whole line of thought lies in stark contrast to the solitary peals of doom and supernatural evil that Melville's bell was ringing out in the 19th century.
Ultimately, this is a more modern Moby Dick, with a different and more complicated conception of evil, a lot less room for supernatural mumbo-jumbo, and a significantly diminished Ahab. This last point is why Peck's unprepossessing performance is so thoroughly acceptable. A real thunder-and-lightening Ahab isn't required or even necessarily desirable in this screenplay.
I'm not an originalist when it comes to cinema. I don't expect Moby Dick the movie to faithfully represent the book, since that is flat impossible anyway. What I don't like though is bad compromises, and there are some in this movie. Do the vestiges of the supernatural left in the movie (which basically is just the prophesy of the Elijah character and Queequeg casting bones) serve any purpose at all beyond cinematic camp?
I think the animus of this screenplay is the discovery of the banality of evil and it's total ascendence when good men lose the moral compass. It's a good adaptation of the book in the sense that it effectively uses our current conception of evil, as opposed to a 19th century one, which I think could make it more powerfull for a modern audience. But I'd like to see that played out more completely, without the obviously colaborative compromises. I guess Bradbury was a young man at this time and perhaps Huston ran roughshod over him.
Movie Review: The Search for a Hidden Enemy
Summary: 4 Stars
Moby Dick, 1956 film
The film begins with a young man walking down a country lane. He is looking for work at sea. The men of New Bedford explain the rules: its their ocean. He meets the tattooed harpooner. We see the seaman's chapel. Plaques commemorate lost seamen. Father Mapple teaches they should speak the truth in the face of falsehood. [An ideal that is not always politically practical.] Queeqeg tells about his life. They sign on to the `Pequod'. Whalers get a share of the profits, not wages. A skilled harpooner gets a bigger share. Do the owners control hiring? Barrels are used for the storage of goods. [Pilfer proof?] A crazy man foretells their doom, he is named Elijah. The ship leaves on a 3-year voyage. We see the other named members of the crew. Captain Ahab finally appears to address the crew. A reward is offered for sighting the white whale. Moby Dick is the target. [Is the captain obsessed?]
The whale boats pull alongside to throw the harpoons. [The same technique used in "Jaws".] The dead whale is harvested, its blubber is heated to provide the oil used for lamp lighting and lubricants. They will sail to the Pacific. Ahab plans their voyage. Starbuck is interested in business, not revenge on a dumb brute. More whales are hunted and killed. But Ahab orders them away from their rich harvest. Starbuck reads the law on "usurpation:, the crew isn't interested. A man falls overboard and is lost. [An omen?] The ship is becalmed. Queeqeg uses his bones to foretell the future and orders a coffin [witchcraft!]. Idleness breeds mischief. "Thar she blows!" The white whale is sighted. Seagulls gather for an expected feast. The captain promises to five his 10% share of the profits to the crew if they can capture and kill Moby Dick. That motivates them! The ship `Rachel' searches for a lost boat. Ahab wants a `maximum effort' from his men. A storm comes up in answer. It will speed the ship t find Moby Dick, but tears the sails. St. Elmo's Fire hits the rigging. [An omen?]
Ahab tells of his first whale. Will he give up his chase? They smell land but see no land. The white whale is spotted, the row out to meet him. The harpoons strike the whale. One boat is upset, another is attacked. Ahab spears the whale before it sounds. The boats continue the attack, the whale attacks the whaleboats. Then it rams the `Pequod' and stoves in the sides so it sinks in a whirlpool. Ishmael alone survives by floating on a coffin!
I never read the novel, but this condensed version seems to be true to the original. "Two Years Before the Mast" was a memoir of life aboard a commercial vessel. It also told of life in California. Whaling men were usually young men who worked for a share of the money that would give them a start in life (buy a farm). This story raises the question about following a leader who does not act for the good of all but for his own personal whims, "usurpation". "Whom the gods would destroy they first make mad." Could the leaders of a country create vast debts and impoverish the people while searching to destroy something that is part of nature? You can decide for yourself. [I think the special effects are great for 1956.]
Movie Review: A Movie Better than Its Stars
Summary: 4 Stars
After all these years,I finally did it--I saw "Moby-Dick" of my own volition. The family would watch it, ages ago, when it would come on TV, but I usually wandered away and came back in time for the dramatic sinking of the Pequod. Then, last week, I read that it was going to be shown THAT VERY NIGHT in a place called Den of Cin for [low cost]. How could I lose? So off I went.I think I may know now why the movie never seemed to hold my interest as a lilGal. It is miscast, as several of the other reviewers have pointed out, in two crucial roles. Well, at least, there OUGHT to be two crucial roles--that's part of problem number one, Richard Basehart's Ishmael. Ishmael is the narrator of the book, and one could argue that he's supposed to fall out and not be noticed as Everything Else takes place. But does that mean that the actor has to be a nonentity? Malibu Ken in the back closet could've done as well. And, you know, in the New Bedford tavern, old tars and barkeeps keep saying, "Young feller", "Son", and things like that to Basehart. Um, this guy is not young. Why is this happening? I could have understood if the part were being played by a big name actor too old to have been cast at that time, like say Monty Clift. But since Basehart was never a big star, and he wasn't any spring chicken, what gives? So that's Miscast Number One.
No mystery to Miscast Number Two, Gregory Peck as Captain Ahab. After giving a good hard look at a number of Peck's performances, I really have to say that he often fails to bring anything to the table that's at all remarkable or memorable. He's tall and has a deep voice, but no where near the actor that his contemporary Kirk Douglas is. So this Ahab is passionless, though he grimaces often. One reviewer characterized this as Abe Lincoln at sea, but it's more like Silas Barnaby from Laurel and Hardy's "March of the Wooden Soldiers"--that more exactly conveys the acting style at work here.
So what makes the movie, then? Camerawork, editing, and color. The scenes where the crew are harpooning whales before Ahab gets wind of Moby Dick's whereabouts are dazzling. Exhilarating! And I had long ago heard that a special effect was used with the color. But I was told it was to resemble oil paintings, so I had expected a dark murky grainy look. Not at all! These are the light shades of early 19th century whaling prints. Nothing quite like it, before or since.
Ergo, you might try weighing anchor and checking out "Moby Dick", but the crew's not everything they ought to be.
Movie Review: Good Movie, Average DVD
Summary: 4 Stars
I watched this film the other night for the first time since seeing it in a theater in 1956; being 5 years old then, I've never forgotten the experience, and I was apprehensive about whether the film would live up to my memory of it. It does, largely. The music, in 1950s style, is way overdone and intrusive. But the story as a whole is very well told here (it should be, given that Ray Bradbury and John Huston wrote the script). Richard Basehart is okay, if not great, as Ishmael. But Gregory Peck's Ahab is still the reason to see this version; he's brilliant. Then there's the matter of the whales--which I really expected to look phoney, like a 1950s special effect--but which turn out to be terrific; Moby Dick himself looks about as real as you can get, and the last 20 minutes or so of the movie (as with the last three chapters of the novel) are compelling and spectacular.For the DVD, MGM has done virtually nothing. The movie is in full-screen format (which cuts out a bit of the picture here and there--though it could have been a lot worse, I guess). The image itself is very good, though early scenes look a bit colorless; this gets better once the story gets out to sea. There are no extras at all, just a trailer and the option to add French or Spanish subtitles. But I really wished for a bit more on this disc--for instance, if ever a movie demanded a commentary track, this is it, because I've heard bits and pieces of fascinating stories to be told about the production and filming. Even a printed essay would have been a big plus; there's not even a single-sheet insert in the box--couldn't they have afforded a crummy list of scenes?
So, in short, this is worth buying (at least MGM kept the price down) simply for the excellent movie. And the quality, after all, is far better than VHS. But if anybody puts this out in a more deluxe edition, even a little bit deluxe, even just in a widescreen format, I'd recommend going for that instead.
Movie Review: great film, quickie DVD.
Summary: 4 Stars
I really, really enjoy this movie. Forget the Patrick Stewart version and see this one. Performances great (yes, even Gregory Peck), Richard Baseheart turns in a decent, standard Ishmael (with some nice bits, of course -- his brief reaction shot near the end when the whale rises and Ahab is calling on the attack, is excellent in combining an expression of both exhilaration and dread), and the special effects still beat any digital-age CGI junk I can think of, even though the continuity is sketchy in many places, and brief inserts show clear blue and cloudy skies alternately. I never think for a moment I'm looking at a large, rubber whale, edited with miniatures. (The computer-generated whale in the Patrick Stuart version looks incredibly incongruous and as unrealistic as the lamest Ralph Bakshi movie you could think of.) The whale hunts are invigorating and very exciting, the narration par excellence, the Quaker-spiced dialogue is terrrific. I still love to hear Stubb say "Did ye not hear Mr. Starbuck? Pull, ye sheepheads!" My MAJOR complaint: Why wasn't this DVD issued in widescreen format?
There seems to be an ongoing debate about whether or not this film was shot widescreen, and everyone on both sides will insist they are right. I can certainly say that I have seen a LaserDisc version of this in the early 1990's, which was matted at 1.85:1, and to boot, it was from a better print with better display of the color tinting used especially for the movie; as far as I remember, the transfer process was either supervised or endorsed by Martin Scorsese, of all people, even with a disclaimer on the jacket explaining the unusual coloring process. For the record, although this DVD is passable enough for me to own (mostly because I have enjoyed this movie since I was a child and still enjoy it in my 30's), MGM could have done much better with this presentation, and I will make this my official call for a better edition.