The Big Blue

(source: tmdb.org)

Luc Besson is arguably the most commercially successful French film maker in last decades, but also one of the most overrated directors in history of 20th Century cinema. Besson made his name with films that were visually impressive but, more than anything else, embodied principle of “style over susbtance”. This approach, that would be branded as “Cinéma du look” movement by more snobbish critics, resulted in Besson out-Hollywooding the Hollywood in 1980s. The most successful of those efforts was his epic drama The Big Blue.

The plot is very loosely based on the life of Jacques Mayol, French diver and free diving champion and record holder, who also co-wrote the screenplay. It begins in 1965 Greece when Mayol as young boy (played by Bruce Guerre-Berthelot) lives with father, professional diver (played by Claude Besson) and develops friendship and rivalry with Italian boy Enzo Molinari (played by Gregory Forstner) with whom he shares passion for diving in the ocean. In 1988 Enzo (played by Jean Reno) is accomplished diver and world free diving champion, able to stay underwater without breathing for a long time and at great depths. Jacques (played by Jean-Marc Barr) is also an accomplished diver, but he works as science research subject at project that tests his endurance while diving in ice-covered lakes of Peruvian Andes. Enzo invites Jacques to free diving championship in Sicily. In the meantime, Joanna (played by Rosanna Arquette), New York-based insurance agent, falls in love with Jacques after witnessing his diving in Andes. She concocts the story for her employers that would allow her to travel to Sicily in order to be with him. There she sees how brash Enzo and more meditative Jacques compete with each other trying to dive deeper and deeper, endangering their lives with each new attempt.

The Big Blue was one of the most successful films at French box office in 1980s, and it was quite popular in the rest of Europe, turning Besson into household fame. This success can be explained with Besson pouring heart and soul in his project, in many ways inspired by his growing up in family of scuba divers and his own teenage ambitions of becoming diver. This reflects in excellent work of cinematographer Carlo Varini that includes some stunning visuals and impressive underwater scenes, even those made in black-and-white at the beginning of the film. Besson had quite large budget at his disposal and made sure it was seen, using a lot of attractive and exotic locations that included Greece, Italy, New York and US Virgin Islands. His old associate Eric Serra composed one of the most likable and memorable soundtracks of the time, with typically 1980s synth style.

Unfortunately, all that great care about sights and sounds can’t hide something that is quute common in Besson’s filmography – lack of proper content. Here it is reflected in weak plot and poor characterisation. Jean Reno, who plays brash, arrogant but charismatic diver (inspired by real life Italian diver and politician Enzo Maiorca, who initially disliked the film and for years opposed its showing in Italy) is the only member of the cast who leaves strong impression, simply because his character is the only well-defined. Jean-Marc Barr, on the other hand, despite all of his talents and attractive looks, has very little to do with his character; script tries to add some depth by creating subplot about Jacques’ fascination with dolphins, but this doesn’t result in anything other than couple of initially attractive but later repetitive scenes of protagonists’ interaction with likeable sea creatures. Rosanna Arquette fares even worse with character brought only to add obligatory romantic subplot and improve film’s chances at US box office (an effort that, unlike in Europe, failed miserably); her thankless role (in which she also briefly appears topless) is burdened with some awful dialogue, made even worse by occasional overacting. Even greater problem is the pace and Besson’s unwillingness to cut his scenes, resulting in almost three hours of length that many viewers might find unbearable. The Big Blue is flawed and definitely overrated film, but Besson can be forgiven because this undeserved success allowed him to make much better films in 1990s.

RATING: 4/10 (+)

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Hello everybody. I am talking about films, in this series. I will criticism about films I watced. Actually, it is not exactly criticism. It is more like comment. Because I am not critic. I just talking about films. I say features or scenes what I liked. If I watched another films by the same director, I tell about them too.

Herkese merhaba arkadaşlar. Sndbox için türkçe bir film serisi bu. Seri bayağı uzun sürecek büyük ihtimalle. Önce eski hazırladığım listedeki hoşuma giden filmlerden bazılarını paylaşacağım sonra da yeni filmler izledikçe sürekli olarak her gün ekleyeceğim onları seriye. Daha önceden de sndbox a film serisi yapmıştım ama onu ingilizce yazıyordum. Bu türkçe olacak. Bu postta eskiden yazmış olduğum filmlerden biri olan Le Grand Bleu filminden bahsediyorum. Eski yazdığımı okuyan olmuştur belki.

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Size yalnız akşamlarınıza eşlik edecek, kahvenizi yudumlarken izleyebileceğiniz, hani şöyle değişik bir film olsa da izlesek diyeceğiniz anlar için ya da lan birisi steemitte yazmıştı şöyle bir film dur bir açıp izleyim bakayım neymiş diye düşüneceğiniz anlar için güzel bir film serisi bu. İzlediğim filmlerden böyle biraz değişik olanları, yani bu fularlı kesim nasıl diyorsa işte biraz sanatsal olanları sizlerle paylaşacağım bu seride. Filmler üstüne biraz konuşacağım. Gerçi pek beceremem film yorumu yapmayı ama kendi çapımda izlerken hissettiklerimi anlatacağım işte size. Fazla da kasmaya gerek yok.

Biraz filmin konusundan bahsedelim. Jacques Mayol ve Enzo Molinari, birbirlerini çocukluklarından beri tanıyan iki arkadaştır. Her ikisi de okyanus ve dalış tutkusuna sahip olan bu genç adamlar, bir çok alanda rekabet içindedirler. Sicilya’da yaşamakta olan Enzo, serbest dalış rekorunu 6 yıldır elinde bulundurmaktadır, ancak rakipsizdir. Bu sebeple, Peru Andları’nda yaşayan Jacques’ a haber gönderip kendisiyle yarışmak istediğini söyler. Sicilya’ya gelen Jacques, arkadaşını kolaylıkla yener. Rekabet zaman içinde artar ve iki adam, hayatlarını tehlikeye atmak pahasına inanılmaz derinliklere inerler. Jacques’ın sevgilisi Johana, New York’tan gelir ve bu akıl dışı savaşın sonlanmasını ister. Ve film, karanlık, esrarlı ve unutulmaz bir sona doğru ilerler.

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Çok farklı bir film. Her şeyiyle. Mekanıyla, zamanıyla, sahneleriyle, konusuyla, tarzıyla her şeyiyle. Jean Reno'nun Leon'dan sonraki en sevdiğim filmi budur. Hatta bu filmde beni Leon' dan daha çok etkilemiştir oyunculuğu. Farklı türde bir film izlemek istiyorsanız ya da su altı dünyasına, dalış yapma gibi konulara meraklıysanız kaçırmayın bu filmi derim. Sevgilinizle, ailenizle, arkadaşlarınızla herkesle izleyebileceğiniz türden gayet kaliteli ve güzel film. Komik sahneleri de var, dram dolu sahneleri de var. Gerilim yüklü sahneleri de var. Bir kült filmin sahip olması gereken her şeye fazlasıyla sahip bu film. Graciasss Amigosss...

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