Becoming Cousteau Movie Review

This movie is surprisingly wonderful. It covers every aspect of Jacques-Yves Cousteau’s life from the beginning to the end, never once feeling stale or tiresome. Through this, you will see how and why he started exploring the sea, where it took him, and how some of his research led to the harm of the planet, himself, and us.

If not in the water, he was miserable. Right away, you’re treated to something he once uttered about being in the water. He described being in the ocean as the most fabulous distraction you can experience, but he didn’t like to leave. ‘It is as though you have been introduced to heaven and then forced back to earth.’ His knowledge of the sea and the creatures he had come to know couldn’t be rivaled. What you might enjoy most here is seeing what he ultimately did with his expertise later in life to help everyone and everything.

Cousteau wrote books, made movies, and was part of a television series to stimulate our curiosity about a world we’d never seen. We get to see a lot of the black and white footage captured of him, doing such things as preparing his scuba gear to go free diving and spearfishing for the first time ever.

When swimming with the fish, he was in awe, looking into the eyes of what he once thought of only as food, seeing it now as a friend. With the help of an engineer he knew, he became an inventor so he could go deeper and stay longer in the water. Together, they created the Aqualung, but there was trouble in testing the device. This started Cousteau to wonder if what he wanted was really worth it.

He meets a woman named Simone who loved the sea as much, if not more, than Cousteau. They get a boat and call it ‘Calypso.’ This is their dream, so they and a crew can scrutinize the last frontier earth has to offer. They didn’t have the funds, so it was operated with volunteers and charitable donations.

We’re then introduced to their sons, Jean-Michele and Philippe and are treated to what life was like on the Calypso during good times and bad. We see people from the team riding on the back of a whale, jumping on the back of a turtle, but also setting off dynamite to count the fish on top of the water. This is in the name of research? Not his proudest moment. He even helped the oil companies with drilling. When you need help with funding, you’ll do anything. In his defense, he didn’t know how dangerous they were for the oceans yet.

Yes. Some of what was done, Cousteau later regretted, but this film covers how important he was no matter what he may have done.

Cousteau, the sailor, scientist, inventor, and filmmaker, won an Oscar and the Palme d’Or. He even met Picasso at his screening and gave him a piece of black coral, something from a world Picasso never knew.

For decades, he excited people about the oceans. Still, before he left us, he knew of his responsibility to them which grew each passing decade. Thirty years after he started to learn about life below the sea, he began to defend it, believing there wasn’t much time to do so. He wanted everyone to see the beauty of the sea, to introduce us to it in case we couldn’t jump in ourselves. He also hoped we’d care for it and love it as much as he did. If we could feel for it, we’d look after, fight for and protect it, as well.

When hearing of the plans of its destruction, he warns the world that the survival of Antarctica and human beings are linked, and industrialization is warming the planet to dangerous temperatures. Climate Change is real, and before Cousteau left us, he did all he could to alert us that we were responsible for the generations to come. Guilt ate him up inside, so by telling us, he hoped we’d put pressure on industry to take action.

He notified everyone about needing to leave a green planet for our children. He proposed this in the first Earth Summit. He told the audience of his show that he witnessed the Mediterranean go from a cradle to a coffin, saying that the beautiful seafloor resembled a harsh desert from some awful barren planet. Not all audience members wanted to hear these words from their beloved oceanic guide, so ABC dropped him when he got too heavy.

The movie isn’t all doom and gloom, but it is a necessary part of this documentary. Half of the film is dedicated to preserving the environment, which is honorable. The other is more dedicated to his life and how his career began. It’s superb watching him grow intellectually about what’s happening to us all. There’s much more for you to discover in ‘Becoming Cousteau’ than what I’ve mentioned, so please don’t miss this remarkably well-researched, directed, and produced film. Liz Garbus makes sure that the generations to come, and those in the past who weren’t paying attention, get to know how important Cousteau was in pursuing a better world and how he, if we listen, could be the difference this world needs.

Becoming Cousteau is opening in the following theaters:

Mesa Grande 24

Camelview at Fashion Square

Superstition Springs 25

Foothills 15

Century El Con 20 Theatre