In 1430, Joan of Arc, the prisoner of a powerful lord of the north of France is sold to the English. As a captive awaiting her death, she is approached by different men for whom she is believed to be the embodiment of the infinite.

1959. Guilty of a double-murder, a man is beheaded. At the bottom of the basket that just welcomed it, the head of the dead man tells his story: everything was going so well. Admired priest, magnificient lover, his earthly paradise seemed to have no end.

谁会料到，一个会在猎寮里阅读圣经、在森林会迷路的年轻小伙子，将来竟然成为一名驰骋大海、人人敬畏的捕鲸船船长呢？此时，他却遇到了前所未见的巨大白鲸，什么样的命运将会在大海深处等待他？《白鲸记》是作家梅尔维尔的文学钜作，亦为海洋文学典范；当经典遇上法国导演，两者之间会产生出什么不一样的火花呢？