The Odyssey

Product Description

Summer, 1946. The Cousteau family, Jacques, his wife Simone and their two children Philippe and Jean-Michel, live in their beautiful house by the Mediterranean Sea. By day they dive, by night they watch the stars. It's paradise on earth. But Jacques is never content. He hungers for the adventure of the undersea world, and believes in the virtues of progress. With his invention, the aqualung, his recently acquired vessel, the Calypso, and a crew of free-spirited adventurers led by his wife, Simone, Jacques is ready to cross the world's oceans. Ten years later, back from the boarding school, Philippe finds his father greatly altered as an international celebrity. Jacques cannot see it yet, but Philippe already understands that progress and pollution have begun to lay waste to the submarine world. Still father and son s voyage to Antarctica may be their greatest adventure yet.

Review

Much like great explorer himself, this film is not without its flaws, but it remains a masterclass in storytelling for Salle, balancing a whole myriad of themes in an exquisite manner. --Stefan Pape - HeyUGuys

Sunbeams illuminating tropical fish, sea lions shimmying through a kelp forest -- some of the underwater photography is gorgeous in Jérôme Salle's glossy French-language biopic of Jacques Cousteau. --Ed Potton - Times (UK)