And I raise you Rowan's dad, who sailed on the Tigris as part of a BBC documentary - if we ever get round to Heyerdahl, we shall have to include his story about the tricky negotiations with Djibouti. But that's after we cover how he was accidentally responsible for 'The Da Vinci Code'
Great stuff. There was always something a bit Bond/Martini ad about Cousteau. From memory- in The Undersea World, it starts off in his slick office in the South of France, lined with antiquarian leather books- was there a globe?
Even better, it was his book lined study in Monaco - Grace Kelly even comes down to christen his undersea base, I think. Full Bond villain / pulp mad scientist status there, I think
Nice, flooded me with memories until I was 70 m below the surface. There are two extraordinary things about Cousteau, and both are parts of the Zeitgeist of the 70s and early 80s:
The internationalism of it. The whole show was totally agnostic to nationality. To enjoy it you only had to be human (arguably). I watched it as a child in Ceausescu Romania, it was consensual, resolutely leftist, and part of the leap "across the wall", a bit like Elton John singing "Nikita" or Sting hoping that the Russians love their children too. Of course to us on the other side it was even more science fiction than it already was anyway.
And that's the other thing, the atmosphere of science fiction and infinite human possibilities, omnipresent at the time (before, as you pointed out, Cousteau and everyone else, got their feet back on the ground). Cousteau is Star Trek in the form of a documentary, allowing infinite dreams, the viewer adding the science fictional part himself. I know of no other documentary that managed to do that, to become fiction in your head, or at least never to that extent.
Yes! That's a perfect framing: Star Trek as documentary. That's precisely the sensation it conjures. And, of course, Star Trek has that internationalism too, with the Russian, Japanese, "Scottish", alien crew members and the utopian idea of the future (post-capitalist to boot)
I am obviously aware of Jacques Cousteau but I have never seen any of his films. I feel I have missed out! I love Wes Anderson but The Life Aquatic is probably my least favourite of all his offerings. I now suspect this is because I lacked the necessary reference points. Are they still available to watch anywhere?
This piece immediately brought to mind for me My Octopus Teacher, almost certainly just because of the underwater setting - it certainly is in no way grand or ground-breaking - but it felt quite old-fashioned as it seemed to be as much about the film maker and his response to this octopus as about the octopus itself. The underwater footage was fascinating but the narration harked back to an earlier time. It almost reminded me of the Disney nature films that always seemed to be on TV when I was a child. It’s a strangely narcissistic film but fascinating in its own way.
Weirdly, Life Aquatic was always one of my favourites, perhaps because of the Cousteau references, but watching the man himself has made me realise quite how bitter and sad it is as a film.
Yes! That's really interesting: I haven't seen My Octopus Teacher, but I shall have to give it a look. It's interesting how that mode has sort of come back round in documentary with the celebrity presenter. Back then the presenter became a celebrity by being the hero of their own films, now the only way to get a documentary made is to shoe horn in a minor celeb on a 'journey of discover'.
Also it feels like that Disney 'drama documentary', where the narrator was telling you a story, lives on, but quietly, with film-makers stitching together lots of takes and sequences to create drama. Though I notice they now have these little 'making of' sequences where they fess up tacked onto the end of Attenborough docs.
Mind you, it feels to me that American docs have a lot more of an authorial voice than British ones try to, in general.
One of my guilty pleasures is the series 'Toys That Made Us' on Netflix, which unearths the production stories behind famous toy lines (Lego, Barbie, G.I. Joe, that kind of thing) and they really go for this style: lots of comedy re-enactments, jocular narration, funny sound effects. I find it simultaneously somewhat jarring and weirdly delightful.
It is! And I've never actually watched 'The Movies That Made Us', which I really ought to, as its all prime Metropolitan territory (indeed, we've covered a fair few of them already).
Yes! You really should. I love them despite the grating American voiceover which I could definitely live without. My favourite is the episode dealing with “Friday the 13th.” Very funny.
I see your Jacques Cousteau and I raise you a Thor Heyerdahl
And I raise you Rowan's dad, who sailed on the Tigris as part of a BBC documentary - if we ever get round to Heyerdahl, we shall have to include his story about the tricky negotiations with Djibouti. But that's after we cover how he was accidentally responsible for 'The Da Vinci Code'
Great stuff. There was always something a bit Bond/Martini ad about Cousteau. From memory- in The Undersea World, it starts off in his slick office in the South of France, lined with antiquarian leather books- was there a globe?
Even better, it was his book lined study in Monaco - Grace Kelly even comes down to christen his undersea base, I think. Full Bond villain / pulp mad scientist status there, I think
Nice, flooded me with memories until I was 70 m below the surface. There are two extraordinary things about Cousteau, and both are parts of the Zeitgeist of the 70s and early 80s:
The internationalism of it. The whole show was totally agnostic to nationality. To enjoy it you only had to be human (arguably). I watched it as a child in Ceausescu Romania, it was consensual, resolutely leftist, and part of the leap "across the wall", a bit like Elton John singing "Nikita" or Sting hoping that the Russians love their children too. Of course to us on the other side it was even more science fiction than it already was anyway.
And that's the other thing, the atmosphere of science fiction and infinite human possibilities, omnipresent at the time (before, as you pointed out, Cousteau and everyone else, got their feet back on the ground). Cousteau is Star Trek in the form of a documentary, allowing infinite dreams, the viewer adding the science fictional part himself. I know of no other documentary that managed to do that, to become fiction in your head, or at least never to that extent.
Yes! That's a perfect framing: Star Trek as documentary. That's precisely the sensation it conjures. And, of course, Star Trek has that internationalism too, with the Russian, Japanese, "Scottish", alien crew members and the utopian idea of the future (post-capitalist to boot)
I am obviously aware of Jacques Cousteau but I have never seen any of his films. I feel I have missed out! I love Wes Anderson but The Life Aquatic is probably my least favourite of all his offerings. I now suspect this is because I lacked the necessary reference points. Are they still available to watch anywhere?
This piece immediately brought to mind for me My Octopus Teacher, almost certainly just because of the underwater setting - it certainly is in no way grand or ground-breaking - but it felt quite old-fashioned as it seemed to be as much about the film maker and his response to this octopus as about the octopus itself. The underwater footage was fascinating but the narration harked back to an earlier time. It almost reminded me of the Disney nature films that always seemed to be on TV when I was a child. It’s a strangely narcissistic film but fascinating in its own way.
Weirdly, Life Aquatic was always one of my favourites, perhaps because of the Cousteau references, but watching the man himself has made me realise quite how bitter and sad it is as a film.
I am going to have to go in for another watch, I think.
Yes! That's really interesting: I haven't seen My Octopus Teacher, but I shall have to give it a look. It's interesting how that mode has sort of come back round in documentary with the celebrity presenter. Back then the presenter became a celebrity by being the hero of their own films, now the only way to get a documentary made is to shoe horn in a minor celeb on a 'journey of discover'.
Also it feels like that Disney 'drama documentary', where the narrator was telling you a story, lives on, but quietly, with film-makers stitching together lots of takes and sequences to create drama. Though I notice they now have these little 'making of' sequences where they fess up tacked onto the end of Attenborough docs.
Mind you, it feels to me that American docs have a lot more of an authorial voice than British ones try to, in general.
Totally agree about the authorial voice. I always imagine quirky music giving a slightly comic air to proceedings in the American version too.
One of my guilty pleasures is the series 'Toys That Made Us' on Netflix, which unearths the production stories behind famous toy lines (Lego, Barbie, G.I. Joe, that kind of thing) and they really go for this style: lots of comedy re-enactments, jocular narration, funny sound effects. I find it simultaneously somewhat jarring and weirdly delightful.
This sounds fabulous. Is it the same team behind ‘The Movies That Made Us’?
It is! And I've never actually watched 'The Movies That Made Us', which I really ought to, as its all prime Metropolitan territory (indeed, we've covered a fair few of them already).
Yes! You really should. I love them despite the grating American voiceover which I could definitely live without. My favourite is the episode dealing with “Friday the 13th.” Very funny.