Jacques Cousteau is a name that pop culture has come to associate with the sea. Whether you watched one of his documentaries, saw him parodied in a show, or associate him with the love letter of Wes Anderson’s The Life Aquatic, you can’t avoid his influence. Prior to James Cameron, he was one of the most obsessed individuals with exploring and understanding our underwater world.
But there’s more to such a man than just his iconic cap and penchant for sea life. Becoming Cousteau is a documentary that brings to light the entire career of the French explorer. He turns out to be far more fascinating than just being a memorable documentarian, a title he’d probably deny.
An Easy Obsession
The early days of Cousteau showcase just how easily he took to the lifestyle of water and filming it. He wasn’t quite sure what he wanted to do as a young man but knew it had to involve the ocean in some way. He enjoyed swimming, exploring, boating, and even filming. If only there was some way to combine all of that.
Cousteau’s life led to friendships and marriage but also trying to find some way to continue his passions. His appreciation for the sea leads to him taking out a big boat with a whole crew for an explorative voyage. During that voyage, he brought along a camera to film the work and fun the crew had.
It’s interesting to see how Cousteau brings others into his life. His boat attracts not so much skilled men of the sea but people who just want to get away from it all. The time at sea is long for being away from civilization for an extended period. The crew assembled, however, seems to rather enjoy the company of each other and the challenges that come with waves and islands.
Making it Work
Cousteau’s love for the sea evolved as he tried to find ways to keep exploring. He wanted to dive deeper and explore more of what this dark and mysterious underwater world had to offer. So he dabbled in equipment breathing underwater. He found himself intrigued enough by the underwater adventures that he wanted to film it all. He looked into developing cameras that could function underwater.
A common question surrounding such exploration may involve costs. After all, Cousteau was heading out to sea on rather big boats with crew and supplies. All of that cost money and he tried to find means of funding his adventures. One such route was to commit to work for BP (yes, the oil organization).
To Cousteau, working for BP seemed like little more than a job. His work hauling oil by boat was treated by him as a means to pay the bills for some expensive ventures. That being said, it was not something Cousteau looked back on fondly.
Some Regrets
Cousteau speaks in a few interviews about the regrets he had during his early days of exploring the sea. It’s not just the work with BP that made him regret his actions. He also recalls some early footage of him and his crew gutting animals that got in the way of their boat. This became a problematic element of his footage that he would admit he wouldn’t favor committing or filming again.
Cousteau’s distaste for BP only grew over the years as he started to see the dire state of climate change. During his rise to fame, he would speak optimistically about the future, how humans would soon live in underwater colonies ala Sealab 2020. The more Cousteau learned about the world, however, he realized that such a vision under the ocean will never be possible if issues can’t be fixed on land. If we don’t work out such issues with climate change, the future may be closer to the destructive satire of Sealab 2021.
There were even some major stumbling during his many experiments with going under the water. One such attempt led to the unfortunate death of one of his friends when trying out some breathing equipment. The death hit him hard and nearly drove him to never work wet again.
The Jump Into Film
Cousteau had written a book of his explorations in the 1950s but also made the film The Silent World about his travels. It really says something about Cousteau for how picky he was about what this film had as an intended purpose. The film went to the Cannes Film Festival and won the Palme d’Or award. Though it was seen as a documentary, Cousteau insists it’s not a film that fits neatly into such a genre. Even a travelogue may seem too simple a designation for him.
Such fear of simple designations made Cousteau seem as multifaceted as he was despising of labels. It made an interesting person but not quite the easiest to pin down. Even when he became better known as a filmmaker, he had some difficulties selling his underwater documentary series of The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau. Though the show would be picked up, it would take a bit of time for his fame to develop, considering the editors of the program only recognized him from the footage as the old guy with the red cap.
Once his show started airing in the 1960s, his name became more noteworthy. Kids would start asking questions about his adventures. Interviewers would try to reach him for comments. Cousteau reached the big time. Thankfully, as time progressed, he used his influence well.
Amazing Old Footage
For such a documentary, the Cousteau Society Archives were tapped for releasing some never-before-seen footage of the explorer. While there is plenty of segments from The Silent World and The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau, there’s also plenty of home video and personal photos before his rise to cinema and TV fame.
There are some nice touches of visual flair for some of the footage. Some of the underwater segments are given a dash of color splashed about the swirling sea life. The rotoscoped animations placed on top are not too imposing and are decent enough at communicating the wonder that Cousteau felt while delving into this frontier.
A Complex Man
Director Liz Garbus approaches the material in a linear fashion. She doesn’t jump around too much and gives a clear path for the road of Cousteau. The film starts with his blind ambitions and ends with a hope for the future about those who will take climate change seriously. He went through quite the transformation that can be found when piecing his whole life together. You can even track this in his episodes of The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau which went from mere observations of sea life to dire showcases of the diminishing environment.
The picture becomes a bit of an eye-opener because of this. A mere glance at Cousteau from afar may just make him seem like some French guy who really loved the sea. To showcase him as someone who became more aware and concerned for the environment takes more than just a handful of films and photos to communicate. The many interviews of those who knew him well speak volumes with such an intriguing showcase of the man who wanted to know more about the other world we share beyond our land.
The only major fault is that Cousteau only feels as explored for his environmentalism and less as a man. Though he shows concern for his friends and has sordid family relationships that fade amid his work, it would be nice to see more of the figure beyond what was placed on the camera. It’s perhaps a bittersweet relation to Cousteau’s view of the world. Pop culture mostly remembers his more whimsical programs. Few think back to his sounding of climate change alarms.
Conclusion: Becoming Cousteau
Becoming Cousteau is an honest yet engrossing portrait of one of the most iconic explorers. It doesn’t dig as deep as one may hope but manages to swim further enough down to unearth some fascinating info on him. The footage alone is worth watching just to see how an exploration of the oceans has made great strides.
There’s a somewhat sad end to this story given the resolve of Cousteau’s view on the world before he left it. The film seems to suggest that Cousteau has a sort of contentment and hope that we can carry on in making our world a better place. That’s a happy ending for such a person who brought invaluable education to the world. For the rest of world that lives past him, there’s a bit of an unannounced shame in that not all his ambitions have come to fruition. One can only hope others will show the same level of curiosity, concern, and courage as Cousteau to march forward and try to save the world more than just place a camera in front of it.
Did you see Becoming Cousteau? Did you enjoy this documentary? If so, let us know in the comments below.
Becoming Cousteau is currently playing in theaters.
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