Product: Moby Dick [VHS] (1998)
Rating: 4.0
Patrick Stewart, Henry Thomas, Ted Levine Carry This One
Who could every truly do justice to Melville's masterpiece? Moby Dick is a novel that resists adaptation. In order to rein it in, one must make sacrifices. Franc Roddam's for-TV version is arguably the best attempt to present its source material in a digestible way while still preserving the author's intent.Again, there is always something lost in adaptation, but there is enough here to examine some important themes. In fact, I teach high-school American literature, and I use this adaptation as a basis to examine themes of God, life and destructive obsession as well as characteristics of Dark Romanticism. My teenage students are for the most part not prepared to tackle the complexity of the novel, but this adaptation is quite manageable, and it is nice that they typically find it enjoyable as well.This mini-series was produced for TV in Australia in 1997, and at times it does show its age. Some of the whaling scenes in particular are not very convincing, and the background scenery at times looks fake. Still, the effects are quite advanced for 1997, especially for TV, and it doesn't look too bad today.The Emmy Award-winning soundtrack by Christopher Gordon is outstanding. It is epic and Wagnerian without becoming tired and repetitive. Incidentally, the soundtrack alone makes for enjoyable listening, even apart from the context of the film.Gregory Peck won a Golden Globe Award for his cameo appearance as Father Mapple. This was his last role, and I am sorry to say that here is where I part ways with most reviewers. Peck's Father Mapple is too warm, too approachable to do justice to the role. This is a poignant moment in the novel, introducing the theme of a disinterested God. A touch more of the fire and brimstone might have helped, but an iciness like the coldness of the sea would have been even better. Besides, Gregory Peck was a fine actor, but he does not even seem to be trying here. He could have been reading the part for the first time. Again, I understand this is not the general consensus, and I welcome any comments to the contrary.As for the other actors, there are certainly some, well, flawed performances. In the interest of accentuating the positive, I will not dwell on these flaws. Suffice to say that by the end of the film, there are certain members of the crew who I was happy to see go down to Davy Jones' locker.On the other hand, Henry Thomas makes a convincing Ishmael and Ted Levine shines as Starbuck, giving the second-best performance in the film. Needless to say, Patrick Stewart is perfectly cast as Ahab; his background in Shakespeare coupled with his experience on the small screen lend to his success in this role. He delivers the Shakespearean monologues sans melodrama, and his effort binds and sustains this film.It is easy to nitpick any adaptation of Moby Dick. The 1956 adaptation was too short and featured a too-young Gregory Peck as Ahab. This adaptation has been criticized for being a long, incohesive mess. It is important to remember that upon its first printing, the novel itself was heavily panned. At the end of the day, there is no perfect adaptation of Moby Dick, and there will never be a perfect adaptation of Moby Dick, but if you look here, you will find an exceptional soundtrack, a fair attempt to tackle important themes in the novel and some fine performances. For what it's worth, I can appreciate that.