The film begins with the fact that a writer comes to an old man who is living his life with a loving wife. He wants to write a book about the wreck of the whaling ship Essex, and the old man is the only survivor of the wreck. After much persuasion, the old man begins the story.
When the Essex set sail, he was a boy of fourteen. The ship’s captain was Mr. Pollard, a stately young man, the position he inherited. Mr. Chase, a brave and very enterprising man, was appointed the chief assistant to the captain. They often argued, between the men there was a serious struggle for leadership on the ship.
The first whale was killed, blubber reserves were allocated (whale blubber was used on an industrial scale as fuel in those days), but then luck turned away from the whalers. They were caught in a storm, which caused considerable damage to the ship. The question arose: either return home empty-handed, or continue hunting on a ship in need of repair. The captain decided to continue sailing.
When the ship crossed the equator, the sailors heard from the locals about the place teeming with whales. However, a huge killer whale is operating there, it is very cunning and strong, it sinks ships on purpose. The crew members did not believe in such legends, but they were interested in a place full of booty. It was decided to sail straight there.
And indeed, after some time, a flock of whales was found. But the killer whale also made itself felt. He rammed the ship’s hull several times with his giant body and retired. The ship began to leak, and the crew members realized that they had only one chance left: to take water and provisions from the ship and escape on boats. The ship caught fire and sank. People were in a panic, on three tiny boats in the middle of a huge sea.
People were tormented by hunger and thirst, and every day it became more and more difficult to survive. A formidable whale pursued their boats, emerging from time to time and reminding the unfortunate of itself.
Suddenly land appeared: the travelers found a small island. There they were able to recover a little. Some remained on the island, the rest went on to look for a home. People had less and less strength, someone was dying of hunger and thirst. People ate the remains of their dead comrades. They no longer had the strength to resist the elements: people lay exhausted at the bottom of their boats and waited for how everything would end.
2 boats were lost in the sea, 4-5 people survived. But here salvation came: from one boat people saw the land, from the second – another boat with people. The survivors were rescued and brought home after a while. They did not hide the truth: the ship was drowned by a huge whale.
Meaning of “In the Heart of the Sea”
The meaning of the film is that nature, in the face of a huge killer whale, opposed all of humanity. It is clearly demonstrated that nature is alive, it requires a careful attitude to itself, otherwise it will begin to take revenge on humanity, for this it will find its own methods.
The emphasis is also placed on the vice of human greed: more than once, fate gave the crew members a sign to turn back and return home without prey, but alive and healthy. But no, the captain and his assistant were driven by a thirst for profit, a desire not to lose face on their return. As a result, they destroyed the ship, most of the crew, and miraculously survived themselves.
The film shows how a person tormented by hunger and thirst can sink, it is clear what terrible torments these people experience. They ate each other’s remains, killed their comrades in misfortune so as not to starve to death themselves. People had no choice, in this picture only the captain and Mr. Chase had a choice, the rest were forced to obey. And the leadership, with its inconsistent and incorrect actions, destroyed the ship and its crew.
The meaning of the ending of the film “In the heart of the sea”
As far as can be understood from the ending, half a century after the events described, people stopped hunting whales, since the combustible oil of whales has become a legend. They probably understood that man is not omnipotent, he has no right to try to subjugate nature by destroying it. And a huge whale helped to realize this, which decided to protest to people
The writer, who came to the former whaler, was very pleased with his story and began to write a book.
The story is shocking, it is filled with human grief. People who survived the wreck of the Essex and dozens of days in boats without food and water were able to survive and change their value system, realizing that nature can be stronger and more powerful than man, her king.
