It’s been a while now, but I thought Spielberg handled this and other stuff very nicely indeed in the ~first half of his movie. Where the Captain seemed borderline terrifying / pathetic / insane at first, like right here.
If only Spielberg could have stayed ‘true’ in the second half, without needing all the Indiana Jones* / Hollywood stuff. 😕
* not saying I don’t love (most of) the Indy franchise
I remember reading this as a little kid and thinking: “of course you could start a fire in your boat if you’re cold, what’s wrong with that? oh, I see, he burned those things you paddle with, I guess they’ll just have to use their hands.”
Crazily-enough, that stunt might have actually worked if I understand correctly. That is, the water acts like a huge heat sink on the ship’s outer wood, preventing it from ever reaching the fire’s real temperature.
I guess Homer Simpson might think it’s a good idea to actually try that out. :S
