Becoming Cousteau

The documentary Becoming Cousteau reveals the life of Jacques-Yves Cousteau and his passion for all things under the sea. I loved learning more about this man, who was a dominate figure during my youth who brought fantastic underwater images into our living rooms.

This film shows Cousteau's love for the oceans, as it explores over four decades of his work and how he became a spokesperson for the environment more than 50 years ago.

I loved watching this film and learned more about Jacques Cousteau than I knew previously. It sort of filled in the blanks of the back story of the man who captured our hearts and imaginations years ago. The cinematography is breathtakingly beautiful, although I wondered why the archival shots at the beginning had not been digitally enhanced. I also found it interesting that even his first dives into the ocean, in 1937, were filmed. Of course, he says several times that he has always been a filmmaker, but still those shots surprised me. He also talks about how he was not a good husband or father and, indeed, six months after his wife died he remarried. Also, he sent his children off to boarding school so he and wife number one could spend their time on the boat pursuing various missions. He was a clever businessman too, which was necessary to keep the funding flowing and we learn how he too on an assignment from British Petroleum to research oil reserves under the ocean in order to finance other projects he and his crew pursued. I remember well his TV series, The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau, which aired from 1968n to 1976 and featured Cousteau along with his two sons and grandson. His wife, who did not appear on screen, was sort of the glue that held things together with the crew during these expositions on their boat, the Calypso. The Cousteau Society still exists and continues to carry out explorations worldwide and helps people understand the fragility of life on Earth - the Water Planet. This beautifully produced documentary directed by Liz Barbus (The Farm: Angola, USAP truly is an ode to a remarkable man who changed the course of history by embracing life beneath the sea.

The message of this film is a reminder to take care of our planet and treasure the undersea world.

I give Becoming Cousteau 4 out of 5 stars and recommend it for ages 10 to 18, plus adults. Reviewed by R. Levy, KIDS FIRST!

When you talk about a true adventurer, you're talking about Jacques Cousteau-the man with the red cap.

This is truly an amazing film that captures Cousteau's life. A man driven by curiosity about what the Earth has to offer. He contributed significantly to the knowledge we have today. Cousteau was a true inspiration for many to seek out adventure, and he instilled a love for nature in countless others. His impact can still be seen today in the lives of many divers. Cousteau was a pioneer of scuba diving as we know it today. An incredibly well-made film and a must-watch. It's also wonderful to see those old recordings again!

For those of us who did not know much of this explorer with the red beanie hat prior to watching this documentary, the story presented is lacking on a few essential details. For example we are told Cousteau was in an accident, and we see a short clip of a road. Cousteau says that this accident hindered him in becoming a pilot. We are not told what kind of accident he was in, one can only assume that he was in a car accident. Furthermore, we are not told what kind of damage he suffered. Yes, I can google stuff, but key details like this should not be left out of a documentary like this. Another example of bad direction/editing is when we are presented to the year 1979, only to be presented to the year 1977 just 15 seconds later. Nothing happened in 1977? Or was one of the headlines showing the wrong year?

On the plus side the story is fascinating, and the source material is impressive- so many video clips and interviews used to tell us this marvellous tale. And the music towards the end really builds up the tension to the finale.

All in all an intriguing dive (just had to go there, didn't I?) in to a man that gets more and more color the deeper one goes.

Too often when I watch documentaries about beloved folks, I notice that the films are not balanced at all and seem more like hero worship than a true biography. Well, fortunately, "Becoming Cousteau" is more balanced than I expected. Let me explain.... Jacques Cousteau was a wonderful person in some ways....and also a very, very flawed man in others. Surprisingly, the film shows both sides of him...the beloved explorer as well as the guy who could be a jerk when it comes to his personal life as well as what he put into his early film, "The Silent World"....where he and his crew committed some agricultural atrocities which are VERY noticeable today, as our sensibilities have changed. The only negative I would have loved to have learned about was his lawsuit against his surviving son, Jean-Michel. But otherwise, the film was very well made and complete...and leaves you admiring the man as well as realizing he was flawed as well.

First off, I'm not an english bigot. I'm all for non-english productions but if you provide english subtitles, I expect them to be a good translation, easy to read and doesn't distract from the film. Is that too much to ask for? I only made it less than halfway before I had to give up. 42" tv just didn't do it. Not only were the subtitles flashed too quickly but they were in a very small font which made it difficult to follow the film and read the translation at the same time. I may go back and watch this again, and ignore the subtitles, but I just don't have the patience to finish the film as is. Ok, so why not find subs somewhere else. Because the subtitles are part of the film so adding subs would just make it even more distracting. But, it's not just this film. Most producers make what they want without considering their viewers, or maybe they do consider but insist their viewers to be multi-lingual, multi-cultural, and with dog level hearing abilities and tv sound to match.