This is a brave production, being for TV on a budget, but featuring some good names. This mini series telling is slow, sometimes laborious. William Hurt's performance is passable, but is not up to Gregory Peck's commanding voice and persona. Though, it is difficult to imagine who might equal or surpass such acting. Our hats are off to William for giving it a shot after Patrick Stewart's rendition in 1998.

MOBY DICK 2011 TV - GATE FILM

This is a Canadian-German television miniseries about the hunt for the white sperm whale, produced by Tele München Gruppe, with Gate Film, In association with RTH/ORF based on Herman Melville's 1851 novel Moby Dick

Starring William Hurt as Captain Ahab, it was directed by Mike Barker with a screenplay by Nigel Williams. The cast also includes Ethan Hawke as Starbuck, Charlie Cox as Ishmael, Eddie Marsan as Stubb, Gillian Anderson as Ahab's wife, Elizabeth and Donald Sutherland as Father Mapple. The plot adaptation to this version of Moby Dick is fairly faithful to the novel as written by Herman Melville.

A "reimagined" version of Melville's book, Moby Dick was shot primarily in Lunenburg and Shelburne, Nova Scotia respectively as well as Malta during late 2009. Costing US$25 million, it is Tele München's most expensive production to date. This adaptation gives Ahab a wife named Elizabeth, although Melville's story lacks female characters. In 1998, producer Robert Salmi Sr. worked on a similar miniseries for the USA Network, starring Patrick Stewart.

CAST

William Hurt as Captain Ahab
Ethan Hawke as Starbuck
Charlie Cox as Ishmael
Eddie Marsan as Stubb
Gillian Anderson as Elizabeth, Ahab's wife
Billy Boyd as Elijah
Raoul Trujillo as Queequeg
James Gilbert as Steelkilt
Daniel Gordon as Pip
Matthew Lemche as Flask
Billy Merasty as Tashtego
Onyekachi (Lucky) Ejim as Dagoo
Gary Levert as Perth
Richard Donat as Inn Landlord
Sandy MacLean as Quaker Preacher
Glen Matthews as Tom
Stephen McHattie as Rachel Captain
Donald Sutherland as Father Mapple 

RECEPTION

The miniseries received fairly positive reviews, with an average score of 68/100 assigned by Metacritic. Linda Stasi of the New York Post gave the miniseries three stars out of four; Nancy DeWolf Smith of The Wall Street Journal also gave it a positive review, but warned that "Purists [of the novel] may go wild" over changes from the original story.

Hank Stuever of The Washington Post called it "a lavish, exciting, well-acted and admirably thorough movie adaptation". The New York Daily News' David Hinckley awarded it three stars out of five, remarking: "The action will hold your attention, though [the miniseries] is really more a drama of character and flaws and faith. At times, in fact, it lapses into melodrama."

Alessandra Stanley of The New York Times wrote that while "[it] is not entirely silly or even half bad", "it’s an ambitious, beautifully made adventure tale that seeks to be respectful of the book while still making the characters and story accessible to modern viewers." She called the creation of scenes involving Captain Ahab's wife the "most startling" change to Melville's story, noting that the wife was "only fleetingly mentioned" in the original book. Stanley further commented on a few modernized lines in the script, and added, "Some shortcuts and substitutions are useful. Too often, however, the improvisations fall back on clichés that don’t visually distill Melville’s words as much as they forcibly remind viewers of other books and movies."

The miniseries was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc in October 2011.

Queequeg and Captain Ahab (John Barrymore) in the 1930 Warner Brother's production of Moby Dick.

Gregory Peck as the obsessed Captain Ahab, in search of the giant white sperm whale.

THE ESSEX - This three-masted ship was made from white oak, especially known for its strength, measuring 87 feet (26.5 metres) and just 239 tons displacement. There were 21 men on board, including first-time captain, George Pollard, Jr.

On the 20th November 1820, a huge male sperm whale was spotted close to the ship. It was estimated to be 85 feet long where a typical male was no bigger than 65 feet.

The whale may have thought that the ship was another whale invading its territory. Whatever its reason, the whale began speeding toward the Essex, ramming the port side. After passing under the ship, the animal resurfaced and appeared stunned. It then resumed its attack “with tenfold fury and vengeance,” striking the bow and causing catastrophic damage before disappearing. The Essex capsized. Only two of the crew survived.

GRAPHIC NOVEL

The graphic novel translation of Kulo Luna, omits many of the above chapters entirely, and condenses others, aiming for a lively visual read.

Herman Melville

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