Jacques

Please forgive my language and spelling. I'm not native English. Very good movie. Absolutely recommendable. Beautiful pictures, great cast, great story, great directing. My childhood hero. I watched M. Cousteau's brilliant movies on television with great passion as a kid, I collected stickers from a gas station with animals of the sea, to put into collectable sticker books from M. Cousteau. The movie shows the man behind the M. Cousteau I knew from the movies, the hard work, the humanity, and as every human M. Cousteau was not perfect. M. Cousteau is brilliantly played by M. Lambert Wilson, brilliant! There's a bug though. The death of M. Philippe Cousteau is not reproduced correctly. I don't know why, but it irritated me and made me give the movie 7 and not 8 stars.

Currently at the age of 57, it's fair to say that, hearing the name {Jacques Cousteau}, be it random conversation w others, catching it on the radio or perhaps, seeing him on a TV special or documentary, was as common an occurrence over the decades (before his death), as was waking up, to cartoons every Saturday morning (during that era).

For those unfamiliar w the name & legacy of Jacques Cousteau, this is an important & smart film, especially for those possessing a concentrated interest, in the historical perspective, of such a profound conservationist (so far ahead of his time).

Personal Disclosure: As an individual that does not adopt to the supposition, of anthropomorphic climate-change, it is important to note that, much of Cousteau's efforts, during the last (almost) two-decades of his explorations, were given, to legitimate environmental concerns. And, going forward, he invested his life's work, exposing & educating the world, on the ramifications of unchecked pollution, and subsequently, the needless and/or, haphazard slaughtering, of any species (to the point of extinction).

The Odyssey, did & will continue, to help generations to come, remember the life & legacy of such a special individual (and family).

It's a very well done film. It certainly wasn't easy to squeeze half a man's life into 2 hours but I think they've kept a good balance between the beautiful under-the-sea shots and the family ups and downs and the financial challenges he faced. Obviously, they did not have much time for any in-depth analysis, mostly walked us through the main milestones of his life. But the film is shot and edited perfectly. The scenes just flow from one to another, speeding up and slowing down as needed, as kids grow, as decisions need to be made, as people leave and return. The film is not all rosy and it did not shy away from some of the less pleasant sides of the great man. But I think it was handled with good tact, they did not dwell on it but kind of just mentioned it, hey, we are all human after all. And of course, there are enough shots for you to go wow that's a fricking beautiful world down there.

If like me you were just periphically aware of Jaques Cousteau, this movie will you an insight. To the man, to the dreams and to his accomplishments, against all odds and all that. I mean some of the dialog (which may or may not be exaggerated) with film producers is just (comedy) gold. But you can see why they only had profit in their mind and he was out there for a different purpose. Now he was able to move his goals/dreams or make them bigger, by thinking outisde the box (no pun intended).

The movie is in french but there are quite a few scenes that are also in english. The main thing is, we get an insight into how he became who many got to know or read upon later on. Also an "influencer" as some might call him nowadays. An inspiring movie, that tells us to reach for the stars or the bottom of the sea - whichever is closer to your heart!

Jean - Jacques Cousteau was one of heroes of my my childhood. His lovely documentaries, his explanations, his work and passion are source of precious memories. This film changes nothing. Only gives new nuances to the familiary story. The realism is the basic tool for that, as result of a coherent, correct, precise story and admirable performances. The choice and the way of a man and his family. I admire the impecable job of Lambert Wilson. I love the great work of Audrey Tautou. And the inspired cinematography. Short, a necessary film. Impecable crafted.