The abandoned Lynne Ramsay outer-space ‘Moby Dick’ adaptation
The films of the Scottish film director Lynne Ramsay are somewhat spread out, with Ratcatcher being released in 1999, Morvern Callar in 2002, We Need to Talk About Kevin in 2011, and You Were Never Really Here in 2017. In this light, she is perhaps akin to the cinematic version of the American author Donna Tartt, who herself has long periods of writing between each of her novels.
While we’re on the subject of Ramsay and literature, it’s worth considering the adaptation of Herman Melville’s 1851 novel Moby Dick that Ramsay had been undertaking back in 2012. Ramsay had written the screenplay with Rory Kinnear, and the pair looked to take the story of Moby Dick into space, albeit on a low budget.
“We’re taking the premise into the galaxy,” Ramsay said. “We’re creating a whole new world and a new alien. [It’s] a very psychological piece, mainly taking place in the ship, a bit like Das Boot, so it’s quite claustrophobic. It’s another monster movie, cos the monster’s Ahab.”
She added: “It’s about this mad captain whose crazy need for revenge takes the crew to their death. I’m taking people into dark waters, and you see some casualties on the way. It’s fascinating stuff because there’s so much in it.” It’s a true shame that we didn’t get to see Ramsay’s adaptation, as Moby Dick is one of the greatest novels of all time.
Although it also should be pointed out that Melville’s text occasionally borders on the impenetrable, especially by a modern readership’s standards (and low-attention span), so this makes it all the sadder that Ramsay didn’t get to see her project out until completion. Even the Hollywood Reporter had been interested in the prospective film at the time and described it thus: “A psychological action thriller set in deep space [in which] a captain consumed by revenge takes his crew on a death mission fuelled by his own ego and will to control an enigmatic alien”.
As for Melville’s novel, it is narrated by a philosophical sailor by the name of Ishmael. Ishmael tells us of Captain Ahab, the head of the ship Pequod, as he goes in search of the massive titular white sperm whale who had bitten off his leg in a previous voyage. It’s widely regarded as one of the best pieces of literature ever written, drawing admiration from the likes of D.H. Lawrence, Cormac McCarthy, William Faulkner and John Steinbeck. Good company, indeed.
Sadly, we did not get to see Ramsay’s crazy sci-fi adaptation, so arguably, the best film version is still John Huston’s 1956 movie starring Gregory Peck. As for sci-fi themes, a Japanese anime series by the name of Hakugei indeed turned the book’s giant whales into spaceships. How bizarre.
