Le grand bleu

The Big Blue is a story mainly centred around Jacques Mayol (Jean-Marc Barr), a free diver. Free diving is a sport where people dive as deep as they can with a single breath, and no equipment other than a rope and a weighted mechanism to take them to the required depth. Although to say the story of Big Blue is just about free diving does not do it any justice. The story starts in Greece with Jacques as a child, then moves forward to "present day". In the story we also have Enzo (Jean Reno), Jacque's lifelong friend and nemesis who motivates him to free dive in competition (so he has some competition) and also gets him work in other areas of diving. During this work Jacques meets an insurance investigator Johana (Rosanna Arquette), and a romance starts (albeit mostly from her). The story continues as Jacques struggles with problems in his past, present and future.

The Big Blue is an unusual movie. There is some silly (but arguably funny) humour. Also there are some serious levels including romance, and how we deal with problems from our past, our existence, and our future. The film is also quite long (in the aptly named "version longue") at about 2 hours and 40 minutes. Fans of Jean Reno would certainly love this movie.

I really enjoyed this film. The main story is very light and thinly stretched, so to really enjoy it I feel you have to look deeper at the characters and read between the lines. I also really enjoyed the humour, which was silly but fun and was a good counterpoint to the serious scenes. Jean-Marc Barr was absolutely stunning as Jacques, bearing in mind the number of underwater sequences that were required as well. It's a real shame that we don't see Jean-Marc in more leading roles. Jean Reno was also extremely good, and although for me an irritating character Rosanna Arquette put in a reasonable performance. The cinematography is another lush element of the film, with the beautiful locations and underwater sequences (especially those with the dolphins). Eric Serra's soundtrack is pretty good also, although sounds a little dated. As mentioned, this review is based on the "version longue". 5/5

I have to watch this movie once a year just to calm my nerves. One of the few films to which I have also purchased the soundtrack. This film, like the sea which is its subject, hypnotizes you, seduces you, rocks you into a state of oneness with the lush scenery. Rosanna Arquette is beautiful and sexy in an uncharacteristically understated way. Barr makes the perfect beau and embodies the spirit of the film and the ocean. I fell in love with Jean Reno in this film. Unforgettable imagery, interesting premise, good chemistry between Arquette and Barr, and Reno is a joy to watch.

Masterfully directed by Luc Besson and a film to treasure.

This is the movie of my life !

I never before saw a film that i could identify myself so much with. I´m lucky enough to live in a place near the sea very similar and as beautiful as those in the movie and the opening scenes always remind me of my teenage years and the waters i explored like young Jaqques Mayol does in the beginning of the movie. Things that i still do. So i immediatley related to the character and its love for the ocean.

I guess that´s the beauty of this movie. It makes us feel that we could be any of its characters, because they´re so real. We almost can´t believe that they don´t exist outside of the movie. This is an amazing ,beautifuly well written ,acted, photographed and directed movie ! It carries us into an extraordinary world, and it´s our world !! (mine at least to some point) Not some hollywood depiction of reality !

But what it´s about it ? This is the worst thing anyone can ask about this movie.

I would hate to be the guy who had to publicize this in USA. And i can see why it failed there.

But what can i say about it?... That it´s the story of two friends who compete to find out who´s best ?...It´s more than that ! That it´s a love story ? It goes beyond every love story ! That it´s an adventure ? You bet it is ! But it has no action, no chases,no dangerous cliffangers, no guns and no explosions. It doesn´t even has bad guys ! Or good guys in fact. That it´s a travel or a road movie ? Probably. This movie has better locations than any James Bond movie will ever get and they´re all real !

But they don´t matter much compared to the characters in the film. The characters then... There´s a hero right ?... Well there´s two of them. Two men. But they´re not heroes.

Probably the hero is a woman who sacrifices her happiness for love. So, there´s a woman and two men. There´s got to be a love triangle there to cause all those love story rivalary subplots, right ? Well, there´s a love triangle, but there aren´t subplots attached to it. In fact the love triangle has more than three people. All characters are a part of it realy. Including dolphins ! Even the ocean.

Aha ! So this is some sort of a kinky erotic and exotic movie thing ? Wrong ! There´s sex in it, but not in that way at all.

It´s a comedy then... You´ll laugh, but you´ll cry too. It´s a drama ... Not in the conventional cliché way. Not at all. A dramatic comedy... Nope !

It´s a sci-fi film !... Well there´s scientists in it, and deep underwater, and even under ice diving scenes, but it´s not a scifi film, although the American "version" Movie Trailler presented it like if it were some new esotheric adventure underwater sci-fi horror movie, when in fact it is not.

So what is this movie about ?!!

It´s about what you want it to be. About what you´re feeling. It´s that open. You just have to feel it.

As Luc Besson said in an interview, at some point in the movie he was stuck, because he didn´t know how to carry the audience inside.

Then the real Jaqques Mayol, who worked in the film as a diving and story consultant took Besson diving with him one day and made him experience the sea in his way. Then Besson understood that he didn´t had to explain anything to the audience. He just had to make people feel what it was like !

And boy, did he make it ! The atmosphere in this movie goes beyond words. It has to be felt ! Also the soundtrack is out of this world and trully magical.

To me this film is about love, but in a much deeper meaning than the usual. Beyond race, beyond gender, beyond sex, beyond nationality. Love as an emotion. And about freedom !

So get a wide screen TV and a full blast surround. This movie is the reason to buy one if you don´t have it! Believe me ! And watch it in the dark.

Try to get the european full version of the movie. The american is not that terrible, the feeling is there, but it´s diferent from the original.

This movie is a masterpiece ! ( in any version )

For me the grand bleu is something unique...i have never seen a movie were everybody has the same love for the sea,and for their sport... Even if the movie is from 1988...it is still one of a kind!!! Go and see it yourself!! When i lived in France in 1989..everybody was talking about Le Grand Bleu...I still have the music.. And a poster on the toilet..

It remindes me of the good old time.. I have also the movie version long on DVD...it is so beautiful!! You will laugh and cry during Le Grand Bleu. Find out for yourself what your impression is, and you wont be disappointed!

THE movie that made Besson go down in history. A key-movie that divided the French public between the ones who saw on it, only a tedious documentary about the ocean and the others who acclaimed this passionating movie. As far as I'm concerned, I rank in the second category. "Le grand bleu", it's simply a periphrase with a tinge of euphemism to design the ocean, a universe that always inspired to men fear but also fascination. The two main characters, Jacques Maillol and Enzo Molinari are fascinated by the sea but for different reasons. If Reno devotes all his energies to diving so as to access to success and glory, the sea is more than this for Jacques. He was born with it, he swears by it (so much that he neglects Johanna's love) and the sea will lead him to death. A place of athletic competition, an ideal place for rest and entertaining where dolphins are his real and sole friends, finally the eternal heaven, the ocean epitomizes all this to Jacques. "le grand bleu" also ranks among the movies that you must watch rather than telling it. Of course, there isn't almost any plot, dialogs are short and rare but pictures are gorgeous enough to create an entrancing climate supported by Eric Serra's mesmerizing music. The movie's technical qualities can only arouse admiration: a shiny photography that perfectly reflects the color of the sea, the blue and a fluid making sometimes clever: Jacques' childhood is made in black and white. Besides, the movie enabled to discover two outstanding actors: Jean-Marc Barr and Jean Reno but oddly if Reno became one of the most popular French actors, it wasn't the case with Barr. In spite of a promising debut, he has never be able to make a movie that could have got back him in the saddle. Maybe was he so elated at the bottom of the sea, in heaven where everything is fine...