The Odyssey review: Jérôme Salle brings this biopic of pioneer, innovator, filmmaker, researcher and conservationist Jacques Cousteau to the big-screen.
The Odyssey review by Steve Palace.
Younger generations may not know the name Jacques Cousteau, but his legacy of undersea innovation and chronicling of the natural world lives on. Wes Anderson used him as inspiration for comedy The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou, which struggled to match the real life spectacle the maverick Captain created with his crew aboard the Calypso. Can director Jérôme Salle do better with lush biopic The Odyssey/L’odyssée?
The film starts in the 1940s, with Cousteau (Lambert Wilson) having helped develop the Aqua-Lung, enabling divers to breathe easier beneath the waves. As a result he and his colleagues spend sustained periods recording hitherto-unseen features of deep sea existence, to the delight of rapt audiences. However when he decides to leave the Navy to concentrate on his passion for travelling the world the strain on his family – particularly wife Simone (Audrey Tatou) and son Philippe (Pierre Niney) – becomes intense. Salle presents Cousteau as almost a forerunner of today’s celebrities, trapped by his onscreen persona and devising narratives for his clan and colleagues accordingly whilst the “players” are increasingly alienated.
What the movie conveys well is the idea of two worlds: Cousteau’s life on the surface, that shrinks both emotionally and financially as the dream takes its toll, contrasted with the exotic world he discovers when he dons his flippers. As you’d expect, the underwater photography is the best part and Salle realizes some striking watery vistas, such as schools of fish lit by a shaft of sunlight and Phillippe’s close encounter with a whale.
Like Bill Murray’s Zissou, the central character is the weakest aspect. Though played convincingly by Wilson, Cousteau is a distant figure and when you do find things out about him the less likeable he becomes. He has his triumphs and tragedies but overall I was left with the impression of a reckless father and womanizer. What’s missing is a sense of struggle: bearing in mind his idyllic-looking, indulgent lifestyle accompanied by gorgeous, sun-drenched scenery, it’s hard to believe life is that hard. Niney has a more interesting journey, conveying Philippe as the person Cousteau hoped to be – not only does he fly planes (something his father couldn’t do) but his motives are more honourable, castigating his Dad over his treatment of wildlife for example.
Overall however, I wanted to seek out the adventurer’s documentaries. Of course this is a fine reaction for The Odyssey to provoke, yet it also underlines the film’s key problem. Watching his crew have a potentially deadly brush with a group of sharks – to a playful, Jaws-esque soundtrack by Alexandre Desplat – is a nail-biting watch. Unfortunately I was aware that the genuine article exists without the fictional presentation, so why would I bother watching this version?
They say it’s best not to meet your heroes and despite the filmmakers crafting a watchable enough tale I’d say Cousteau should have stayed as a construct rather than someone who was strictly himself. He brought magic to the world and attempting to bring to life the man behind the legend has been a double-edged sword for Salle and his shipmates.
The Odyssey review by Steve Palace, August 2017.
The Odyssey is released in UK cinemas on Friday 18th August 2017.
