(9.29) This happened. The Avon will be holding two screenings of the documentary “In the Whale” this weekend. Following the screening on Saturday, audience members can engage with Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and director David Abel and ask him questions like, “How the hell am I supposed to get to sleep tonight?!!!” Really, who among us, growing up on the ocean, hasn’t had this nightmare, always thinking, “Well it could happen.” And in 2021, it did.
In an experience of biblical proportions, [lobster diver, Michael] Packard was engulfed by a humpback whale, caught in the watery cavity of its massive mouth. After some 30 seconds of a pitch-black captivity, in which he expected to die, he was spit out, fins first, to the surface, where [first mate, Josiah] Mayo and another fisherman rescued him. The publicity was similarly dizzying for the reclusive fisherman, whose survival story spread around the world in news dispatches. But what came after the limelight dimmed was even more significant for Packard.
Within days of the story breaking Packard and Mayo appeared on Jimmy Kimmel and these are two very likeable guys. And for a guy who just survived a baleen backrub, Packard is pretty relaxed about the whole thing. And he makes it very clear that none of what happened was the whale’s fault. What a sweetie.
The movie began as an article in the Boston Globe. Abel is an award-winning journalist and has been writing for the Globe for several years. He has directed documentaries about lobster and cod and the Boston marathon, and is currently on the faculty of Boston University. The movie premiered last year at the Provincetown Film Festival . . . natch.
Running time: 81 minutes. Rated — Aaargghhh!
Mr. Abel will be appearing on Saturday only. The Q+A follows the movie.
7pm, Saturday & Sunday, September 28 & 29, Avon Cinema, 260 Thayer Street, (directions)
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[Update] This movie is about so much more than being inside a whale’s mouth: The Packard family and their friends are so compelling and likeable, as are Michael’s fellow fishermen and the Provincetown community . . . I recommend this movie to everyone. If you are lucky you will get the Q&A with the engaging Mr. Abel who had been skeptical when the Globe initially sent him to check out the story. The movie leaves no doubt that the whale event actually happened, and that the Packards are an incredibly plucky clan, an inspiring story even without the whale.
