The Big Blue

30.10.2007 The Big Blue “Director’s Cut” (English)
Director: Luc Besson
Starring: Jean-Marc Barr, Jean Reno, Rosanna Arquette

Jacques Mayol (a very handsome Jean-Marc Barr) and Enzo Molinari (The Jean Reno) are childhood friends. They are both free-divers, but their motivations are completely different. Jacques loves the sea. Dolphins are his friends, his family. Enzo, on the other hand, thrives on competition. His aim is to be unbeatable. The Big Blue is the story of their friendship and ultimately their tragic deaths. Enzo dies attempting to break Jacques’ record and Jacques’ love for the sea and the dolphins kills him in a fit of delusion.
The film was probably the first to attempt underwater filming and so we get some breathtaking shots of the ocean and the life beneath. It is through this film that I was introduced to free-diving, a sport that needs enormous endurance and courage. We actually get the feeling of descending into the ocean with the free-divers and as they go deeper and deeper one can sense the claustrophobia, the darkness (“where sky is only a memory”, says Jacques)
The story is not run-of-the-mill and the characters are well-etched out. Jacques Mayol is introverted and soft-spoken. He is the happiest when he is in the sea with the dolphins. Yet, he is sad from within, because he does not have a real family. (“What kind of a man has such a family?” he asks Johanna, his love interest, showing her a picture of dolphin in his wallet. And then he cries) On the contrary, Enzo is the quintessential Italian - loud and aggressive. (“Which planet are you from?” Johanna asks him. “Italia” he replies) He has a close-knit family complete with an overbearing mother and a brother who is always at his sides. He is arrogant and often patronising and will go to any limit to establish his superiority. The actors get into the skin of their characters. Barr has a child-like innocence which makes his Mayol believable. Rosanna Arquette as Johanna is alright, only she should have washed and brushed her hair more often. Jean Reno gets the best lines of the movie and he delivers them with such élan that one is floored. He is funny, he is loveable and he kicks ass.
The Big Blue - A must-see for all those who love the sea and the dolphins...