Ric Burns tells a whale of a tale

THE SHOW "Into the Deep: America, Whaling & the World"

WHEN | WHERE Monday night at 9 on WNET/13

REASON TO WATCH

Acclaimed documentarian Ric Burns ("The Way West," "New York") does whaling.

WHAT IT'S ABOUT Framed by the story of the luckless Nantucket whaler Essex, made famous by Nathaniel

Philbrick's bestseller "In the Heart to the Sea" and the inspiration for "Moby-Dick," this is a deep-dive exploration of a once huge industry. Born in pre-Colonial times, the industry arose when whales drifted northward and the occasional carcass would float ashore, where it was harvested for oil. In time, whalers went in pursuit. Geographically blessed Nantucket was the early center, and as demand soared for the pure spermaceti (dozens of gallons found in the head of one adult), whalers ventured farther and farther.

The Essex, which set sail in 1819, was a typical whaler that suffered the rare misfortune of getting torpedoed by a rampaging giant. The account of a survivor, one Owen Chase, would inspire Herman Melville's great American novel.

MY SAY Regrettably, Long Island - a major whaling center - is mentioned only in passing, but don't hold that against Burns' vivid film. It makes whaling feel like something that happened not that long ago; it's not much of a leap to realize that this happened in our backyard not that long ago, either.

Ironically, Melville nearly turns out to be Burns' great white whale. Burns' yarn is brisk and enthralling - then pretty much stops dead in the water - when the author's archaic prose, voiced by Robert Sean Leonard, is read for long, long stretches.

BOTTOM LINE A beautiful, exquisitely crafted film that will hold you in rapt attention - for the most part.

GRADE A-