“By its indefiniteness it shadows forth the heartless voids and immensities of the universe, and thus stabs us from behind with the thought of annihilation …” So says Ishmael of the white whale, Moby Dick, in Chapter 42 of Herman Melville’s 1851 masterpiece. The scale of the novel embodies the “immensity” of its subject. And the diving, breaching, rolling, charging beast is alive in Melville’s language and cadence, his ink its blood. No wonder artists in so many mediums are attracted to this story, in which immersion and imagination become one. Now we have a silent film by the award-winning filmmaker and artist Wu Tsang, made to an adaptation of the novel by Sophia Al-Maria. Original music composed by Caroline Shaw and Andrew Yee with Asma Maroof is performed live by musicians of the New York Philharmonic. The film’s North American premiere is conducted by Daniela Candillari. —Laura Jacobs