The great American Novel, with maybe the acception of Huck F
JOHN GODFREY | Milwaukee ,WI USA | 07/09/2010
(4 out of 5 stars)
"if you are of a certain age & grade you may have to read Moby Dick next term. Get started this summer for it is a long slough. Then you can reward yourself with this fine film adaption. I've heard others on this site criticizing Gregory Peck's portrayal of Captain Ahab. Not his style they say. Who is Ahab anyway?. Do they have a secret insight on how the character is to be played? It's Mr. Peck's interpretation & just fine. It is a story of vengeance & Ahab's obsession with the giant white whale that disabled him & took his leg. It is also a story of death, fear of death, the after life & the power of a prophesy on god-fearing men. The Pequot, named after an almost extinct, Indian tribe is a whaler out of New Bedford in the 1840's. A time infused with rigid puritanical belief that they were doing god's work supplying light to thousands of lamps with their whale oil. The dialect/manner of speaking & attention to detail on the ship is excellent, under the direction of John Huston. So Captain Ahab is losing his tenuous grip on sanity & his agitation increases. Finally there is the confrontation with the white monster. This is a rather short movie given the grandness of the book. A fine retelling in any case. The sermon by the minister before they set sail is classic Orson Welles."