Tag: North Water

Finished watching North Water.
It’s only 5 episodes, ideal format, but is a very heavy show. Especially the animal cruelty, like the hunting of seals and whales.
My main issue with the story is that Drax is something between an animal and the Devil, as most of the evil comes from him. Maybe it’s the idea, though, as at one point characters start to refer to him as The Devil.
Also, I feel that I read the story with the white bear somewhere else.
Interesting that Jack O’Connell (https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1925239/?ref_=tt_cst_t_1) plays here very similar role as in another beloved miniseries: Godless.

“Maybe cleverness will get you nowhere. Maybe it’s only the stupid, the brilliantly stupid, who will inherit the Earth”

1859, England. A whaler “Volunteer” sails to Greenland. Only the captain and a couple of the crew members know, that the goal of this voyage is to sink the whaler and get the insurance money. Sails are obsolete, steam is the future. And there are no more whales anyway.
Writing is technically very impressive. We have the complete opposites: Sumner and Drax. Sumner is a surgeon. Drax is a harpooner. Sumner is addicted to laundaum. Drax likes to drink. Sumner reads Homer. Drax can’t even read.

Drax is also extremely violent. He kills a man with a brick for not buying him a drink. He enjoys hunting seals. But maybe it is the man you want on your boat when your purpose is to hunt and kill whales, a cold blooded killer?

The movie is brutal for sure. The skinning of seals, whale hunt and 19th Century medicine such as draining puss all shown in great detail. Not for the faint-hearted for sure.