Directed by:
Jérôme SalleCinematography:
Matias BoucardComposer:
Alexandre DesplatCast:
Lambert Wilson, Pierre Niney, Audrey Tautou, Laurent Lucas, Benjamin Lavernhe, Vincent Heneine, Thibault de Montalembert, Roger van Hool, Chloe Hirschman (more)VOD (1)
Plots(1)
Jerome Salle co-writes and directs this French biographical drama starring Lambert Wilson as legendary adventurer, biologist and film-maker Jacques Yves Cousteau. Deciding to make a career out of filming documentaries about life under the sea, the ambitious Cousteau restores his boat, the Calypso, and sets off to explore the oceans with his wife Simone (Audrey Tautou), eldest son Jean-Michel (Benjamin Lavernhe) and the rest of his small crew. Leaving his other son Philippe (Pierre Niney) at a boarding school, Cousteau films around the world and quickly gains respect as a successful broadcaster and ecologist. However, Cousteau's life is turned upside down when Philippe is killed in a plane crash, leaving Jean-Michel to try and support his father as he attempts to deal with the grief and continue with his career. (Altitude Film Distribution)
(more)Reviews (2)
The premise to this story is so long that it could be put into two book sagas. But once the story started, I got lost. I got lost in the story which could have been interesting but unfortunately was unbelievable boring. Thanks God for the beautiful undersea shots, which made me hold my breath with wonder. So overall it was worth to watch this movie, but I expected more.
()
A barren family drama, but a really nice hanger for paintings. A neatly spruced up biography of a troubled and fascinating man who never dives completely alive above the surface, but moves beneath it exactly as elegantly as Jacques demanded of his divers. By far the most interesting character and acting performance goes to Simone Audrey Tautou. She deserves even more screen time. I consider Sall's film more as a time-relevant reminder of a family that has done quite a major piece of work for our understanding of the Earth. Otherwise, Odyssey is more of an example of overly reverent and non-conflicting filmmaking, which is nice to look at. [70%]
()