Warning: this article discusses death and cannibalism.
In the Heart of the Sea tells the unbelievable true story of the sinking of the Essex whaling ship in 1821. The movie follows the crew of the ship as they attempt to survive at sea in small whaleboats and the horrifying choices they have to make in those months. In the Heart of the Sea‘s cast is led by the A-list stars Chris Hemsworth, Cillian Murphy, Tom Holland, and Benjamin Walker, who each give great performances as real historical figures. When it was first released in 2015, the film received modest reviews, but In the Heart of the Sea has found success since streaming on Netflix.
In the Heart of the Sea‘s ending helps provide context for what happened to the men who survived after they returned home, but as is often necessary for movies to achieve a certain runtime or rating, parts of the story get left out. While the movie does a good job of recreating many of the biggest points from the true story, In the Heart of the Sea leaves out certain details that actually make the story even more shocking.
8
Herman Melville’s Inspiration Came From Owen Chase’s Book
The Film Shows Melville Talking To Thomas Nickerson Instead
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In the Heart of the Sea‘s narrative surrounds Herman Melville approaching Thomas Nickerson as an old man, played by Brendan Gleeson, and paying him to tell the story of his time on the Essex and the events of the ship’s sinking. This serves to connect the Essex and its whale directly as the inspiration for Melville’s classic novel Moby-Dick. While it is true that the events portrayed in In the Heart of the Sea were part of the inspiration for Moby-Dick, in reality, Herman Melville’s inspiration came from Owen Chase’s book rather than Thomas Nickerson’s.
While Owen Chase wrote and published his account only a few months after returning home to Nantucket, Nickerson’s book actually came out much later than Chase’s and after the publication of Moby-Dick. Moby-Dick was published in 1851, and Nickerson’s account was not found until 1960 and published in 1984. However, In the Heart of the Sea was based on the book In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Essex Whaleship by Nathaniel Philbrick, which did take inspiration from Nickerson’s account.
7
Both Captain George Pollard Jr. And First Mate Owen Chase Had Sailed On the Essex Before
The Ship Was Considered Lucky
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The movie depicts the two as being enemies at the beginning of the film, as Chase had been promised to be captain. In reality, they both would have been on the Essex together at the same time, from 1817 to 1819, when George Pollard had sailed as first mate and Owen Chase as a crew member. Along with having sailed together before on the Essex, the ship itself was considered lucky because of the success the crew had had on previous whaling expeditions (via Nantucket Historical Association).
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Additionally, though the movie presents the damage done in the storm as being the consequence of Pollard and Chase’s disagreement, specifically Chase’s opinion that Pollard was unqualified, in real life they would have known of each other’s experience. Likewise, Owen Chase was a Nantucket native, despite the movie’s portrayal of him being a foreigner to the sea. While this portrayal helps add tension to the beginning of In the Heart of the Sea, leaving out the details of them knowing each other does lose some important context for the prior work experience and the relationship between the two men.
6
The Essex Lost Two Whaleboats In A Storm In The Gulf Stream
Pollard Considered Turning Around But Ultimately Kept Sailing
In the Heart of the Sea features a crucial scene in which Pollard and Chase disagree about the best course of action while sailing near a storm, with Pollard ultimately saying that they should continue sailing through it, leading to the Essex being damaged. While the crew was able to get the ship repaired once they reached the Azores as was shown in In the Heart of the Sea, the movie leaves out that they had lost two of their small whaleboats in the storm and damaged a third. Despite the crew’s purchase of a new whaleboat during their stop, they were still down one and with one damaged.
Leaving out the significance of this detail helps simplify the movie’s narrative slightly.
The movie shows the storm and their stop afterward to get supplies, but In the Heart of the Sea glosses over the loss of the whaleboats, which could have been helpful in their survival. The whaleboats could have been useful in carrying further supplies salvaged from the sinking ship or the wood itself could have been helpful in making repairs. Leaving out the significance of this detail helps simplify the movie’s narrative slightly. However, the loss of something that could have helped the Essex’s crew survive is reminiscent of the Titanic’s catastrophic lack of enough lifeboats.
5
While The Essex Sank, The Crew Spent 2 Days Salvaging Materials Including Navigational Equipment
The Process Was Much Longer Than The Movie Shows
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In the Heart of the Sea shows the crew rapidly abandoning the Essex as it sinks immediately following the white whale’s attack, but in real life, the crew spent two days salvaging materials from the sinking ship. This depiction, while helpful for the movie format, leaves out the materials that the crew were able to salvage to help them as they floated at sea in the small whaleboats. One of the biggest advantages that this gave them over what was shown in the film was that they were able to save two sets of navigational equipment. This meant that both Pollard and Chase actually had a way to see where they were going.
The men also began their journey with the largest amount of food and water that the boats could carry, though it was nowhere near enough.
However, the whaleboat captained by Matthew Joy did not have any navigation equipment of its own. The goal was to keep in sight of the other boats, and they were successful in this for quite some time, even after leaving the abandoned island. In addition to the navigational equipment, the men were also able to salvage materials that allowed them to make their rather small and unstable whaleboats slightly safer (via Nantucket Historical Association). The men also began their journey with the largest amount of food and water that the boats could carry, though it was nowhere near enough.
4
Matthew Joy Died At Sea And His Boat Was Taken Over By Obed Hendricks
A Washed-Up Boat With 4 Skeletons Was Later Assumed To Be Hendricks’
Matthew Joy, played by Cillian Murphy, died at sea rather than on the island as In the Heart of the Sea shows. The crew of the Essex landed on an uninhabited island, called Henderson Island, where they were able to find enough natural resources to survive for one week. After this point, most of the men opted to go back out onto the sea to look for rescue or an inhabited island, but three men stayed behind. All three of those men survived. Matthew Joy continued sailing despite being ill, and he died on January 10, 1821, and was buried at sea.
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Following Matthew Joy’s death, Obed Hendricks, a boatsteerer, became the captain of Joy’s whaleboat. On January 29, 1821, Hendricks’ boat was separated from Pollard’s boat, and the two had previously been separated from Chase’s boat several weeks earlier. Because Hendricks’ boat did not have navigation, he had no way of knowing where he was. Later, a whaleboat with four skeletons in it washed up on Ducie Island, where the men mistakenly thought they had landed rather than Henderson Island, and it was assumed to be Hendricks’.
3
The Cannibalism Was Much Worse Than The Movie Presents
7 Crew Members Were Cannibalized
Understandably, In the Heart of the Sea likely did not want to get too dark or disturb audiences too much, so it makes sense that director Ron Howard chose not to go into too much detail on how many men were actually eaten by the survivors of the Essex. Out of the 20 crewmen, 17 left Henderson Island and only five of them survived. After Matthew Joy, who was buried at sea, almost all the other men who died on the journey were eaten. In total, seven crew members of the Essex were cannibalized during the time the men were lost at sea.
Initially, the men only ate crew members who had died previously of starvation or other causes, but Owen Coffin, who was Pollard’s cousin, was eaten after Pollard’s boat drew lots. In the Heart of the Sea includes this scene, but dramatizes it and frames it in a different way, depicting Pollard as initially drawing the short stick. In reality, though Pollard told Coffin that he would not allow Coffin to be killed, the younger man told the captain it was fine (via Nantucket Historical Association).
2
Chase, Nickerson, and Lawrence Were Found On February 18
Pollard And Ramsdell Were Found on February 23
Though In the Heart of the Sea does show the rescue of the five surviving men, the real details of the event are even more harrowing. Chase’s boat, which held him, Nickerson, and Benjamin Lawrence, was found off the coast of Chile on February 18, 1821 after 91 days of floating at sea. After 96 days, Pollard and 15-year-old seaman Charles Ramsdell were found by a different ship. All five men were in terrible condition, nearly starved to death and unable to move on their own, and they had to be cared for by the crewmen of the ships that rescued them.
|
Survivor’s Name |
Age |
Position |
|---|---|---|
|
George Pollard |
29 |
Captain |
|
Owen Chase |
21 |
First Mate |
|
Benjamin Lawrence |
20 |
Boatsteerer |
|
Thomas Chappel |
unknown |
Boatsteerer |
|
Thomas Nickerson |
14 |
Cabin Boy |
|
Charles Ramsdell |
15 |
Seaman |
|
Seth Weeks |
16 |
Seaman |
|
William Wright |
18 |
Seaman |
Both boats were sailing for Valparaiso, Chile, and the five men were reunited on March 17, 1821. Later that month, four of the men were able to sail back to Nantucket on another whaleship. Pollard was so weak he had to wait two more months to travel back to Nantucket. In the Heart of the Sea does show the men as being weak and nearly unconscious when they were discovered, but the movie does not quite do justice to the real toll that the experience had taken on all the survivors. However, the performances do highlight the emotional turmoil that the men felt due to their actions.
1
Pollard Captained Another Ship After The Essex, But It Sank Too
He Was Considered Cursed
Pollard’s return to the sea is shown at the end of In the Heart of the Sea, but the movie states that he desired to find the white whale, cementing the connection between the movie and Moby-Dick. However, the movie leaves out the fact that Pollard grew to be considered cursed and was forced to retire because, after his return to the sea in 1822, the next ship he captained also sank. Fortunately, the crew survived and were found the following day. After retiring, Pollard returned to Nantucket and lived to be 78 years old.
While In the Heart of the Sea may have left out some of the more shocking details of the true story, the courage of the survivors is one thing the film does highlight.
Though Pollard was considered cursed after his second doomed voyage, Nickerson and Ramsdell sailed with him again. Each of the men who survived continued sailing, proving their bravery. While In the Heart of the Sea may have left out some of the more shocking details of the true story, the courage of the survivors is one thing the film does highlight. It is a difficult story to fully appreciate or portray, but In the Heart of the Sea does a good job of bringing this unbelievable true story to life.
Source: Nantucket Historical Association, Nantucket Historical Association, & Nantucket Historical Association
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In the Heart of the Sea
PG-13
ActionAdventureDrama
Based on the real-life event that inspired Moby Dick, In the Heart of the Sea is directed by Ron Howard and stars Chris Hemsworth as Owen Chase, first mate of the whaling ship Essex who must fight for his life in the middle of the ocean when a whale destroys his ship, killing most of his crew and stranding him and a few survivors on a lifeboat. Cillian Murphy, Tom Holland, Ben Whishaw, and Brendan Gleeson also star.
Where to Watch
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*Availability in US
Release Date
December 11, 2015
Runtime
121minutes
Cast
Brendan Gleeson
, Cillian Murphy
, Chris Hemsworth
, Ben Whishaw
Director
Ron Howard
Writers
Charles Leavitt