BECOMING COUSTEAU
****
Director: Liz Garbus
Screenwriters: Mark Monroe and Pax Wassermann
Principal cast:
Jacques-Yves Cousteau
Simone Melchior
Francine Triplet
Jean-Michel Cousteau
Philippe Pierre Cousteau
Philippe Tailliez
Country: USA
Classification: M
Runtime: 93 mins.
Australian release date: 21 October 2021.
The award-winning and prolific documentary director Liz Garbus is the force behind Becoming Cousteau, a film which examines the life of the legendary French explorer and environmentalist Jacques-Yves Cousteau. And what a life it was! Through the extensive use of newly restored footage from the Cousteau estate’s archive, and with actor Vincent Cassell reading passages from the explorer’s writings (in English), Garbus paints a portrait of a complex man whose driving desire was to spend as much time beneath the surface of the oceans as he possibly could. As he did, he became more and more fascinated by the creatures of the deep and disturbed by what he saw happening to them and their watery world.
Cousteau originally wanted to fly, so he entered Naval School and graduated as a gunnery officer. Before he could take up pilot training, however, a terrible car accident left him with many broken bones and a diagnosis that precluded him from flying. A friend suggested that swimming would help him heal and he was introduced to free-diving, which he found liberating. Wishing to stay underwater longer, he and his collaborators invented what would become known as the Acqua-lung so, for the first time, people could easily explore the marine environment. He also developed a water-proof housing unit for cameras, so that filming underwater was possible, too. These inventions resulted in Cousteau winning the Palme d’Or at Cannes in 1956 for his film The Silent World (co-directed with Louis Malle) and the Oscar for Best Documentary the following year. Prior to this, though, he had purchased an ex-minesweeper and converted it to an exploration vessel, which he christened Calypso. To fund her, he undertook a lot of undersea oil exploration for private companies but, over time, he realised that he was aiding in the destruction of the oceans’ ecosystems and he evolved into the environmental warrior that the world came to know and respect - through his books and television programs he introduced a generation of people to the wonders below the surface of the seas and the dangers they face (hello, Great Barrier Reef).
Becoming Cousteau will surprise many with its wealth of information about its subject. Although it glosses over some events and has ignored others, which can be frustrating, it provides much information that would not be familiar to a lot of viewers. Cousteau’s personal life is covered to a degree and we learn that his first wife, Simone Melchior, was also obsessed with the ocean. She told him that, “I’ll give you two children, you give me the sea,” and did just that, afterwards spending almost all her time on Calypso, somewhat withdrawn from Jacques and the family in later life. Her presence doesn’t appear to have stopped him from fathering two more children with a young diver, Francine, who would go on to become his second wife.
It’s the fabulous archival footage that really makes Becoming Cousteau. It is also a very timely film, particularly in Australia, where the debate about climate change seems to be never-ending and where a number of politicians are oblivious to what is happening to the environment they inhabit. Those people need to see this fascinating, enlightening documentary.
Screenwriters: Mark Monroe and Pax Wassermann
Principal cast:
Jacques-Yves Cousteau
Simone Melchior
Francine Triplet
Jean-Michel Cousteau
Philippe Pierre Cousteau
Philippe Tailliez
Country: USA
Classification: M
Runtime: 93 mins.
Australian release date: 21 October 2021.
The award-winning and prolific documentary director Liz Garbus is the force behind Becoming Cousteau, a film which examines the life of the legendary French explorer and environmentalist Jacques-Yves Cousteau. And what a life it was! Through the extensive use of newly restored footage from the Cousteau estate’s archive, and with actor Vincent Cassell reading passages from the explorer’s writings (in English), Garbus paints a portrait of a complex man whose driving desire was to spend as much time beneath the surface of the oceans as he possibly could. As he did, he became more and more fascinated by the creatures of the deep and disturbed by what he saw happening to them and their watery world.
Cousteau originally wanted to fly, so he entered Naval School and graduated as a gunnery officer. Before he could take up pilot training, however, a terrible car accident left him with many broken bones and a diagnosis that precluded him from flying. A friend suggested that swimming would help him heal and he was introduced to free-diving, which he found liberating. Wishing to stay underwater longer, he and his collaborators invented what would become known as the Acqua-lung so, for the first time, people could easily explore the marine environment. He also developed a water-proof housing unit for cameras, so that filming underwater was possible, too. These inventions resulted in Cousteau winning the Palme d’Or at Cannes in 1956 for his film The Silent World (co-directed with Louis Malle) and the Oscar for Best Documentary the following year. Prior to this, though, he had purchased an ex-minesweeper and converted it to an exploration vessel, which he christened Calypso. To fund her, he undertook a lot of undersea oil exploration for private companies but, over time, he realised that he was aiding in the destruction of the oceans’ ecosystems and he evolved into the environmental warrior that the world came to know and respect - through his books and television programs he introduced a generation of people to the wonders below the surface of the seas and the dangers they face (hello, Great Barrier Reef).
Becoming Cousteau will surprise many with its wealth of information about its subject. Although it glosses over some events and has ignored others, which can be frustrating, it provides much information that would not be familiar to a lot of viewers. Cousteau’s personal life is covered to a degree and we learn that his first wife, Simone Melchior, was also obsessed with the ocean. She told him that, “I’ll give you two children, you give me the sea,” and did just that, afterwards spending almost all her time on Calypso, somewhat withdrawn from Jacques and the family in later life. Her presence doesn’t appear to have stopped him from fathering two more children with a young diver, Francine, who would go on to become his second wife.
It’s the fabulous archival footage that really makes Becoming Cousteau. It is also a very timely film, particularly in Australia, where the debate about climate change seems to be never-ending and where a number of politicians are oblivious to what is happening to the environment they inhabit. Those people need to see this fascinating, enlightening documentary.