Hello Blueness, my Old Friend...

Rating: 8/10 (3 August 2016)

In 1956, Louis Malle's documentary "The World of Silence" made an extraordinary sensation. Captain Cousteau showed to the world the unsuspected wonders underneath the blue surface we laconically call 'ocean' or 'sea'. Oceans, like the divine soup where the recipe of life was concocted, revealed the womb of Mother Nature: a fauna and flora that had nothing to envy on the world above the ground, and was for the first time caught by the camera's eye. The film won the Golden Palm and the Oscar for Best Documentary but the world had to wait for three decades so another French director would write a similar love to the greatest part of our world, in every sense of the world.
From the very title, you know that Luc Besson deeply loved the ocean, this is no marketing titling, "The Big Blue" is his 'world of silence', as unlimited as its invitation for dreams and contemplation, one that could evoke Simon and Garfunkel's melody, starting with "Hello, Blueness my old friend", blueness as the color of the sky, dreams, life, purity, simply said, the most relaxing and eye-comforting color. Luc Besson is comfortably tucking us up and take us in a universe whose mystical nature is magnificently conveyed by Eric Serra's score. This is one of the most instantly recognizable French scores of history, and in pop-culture, has become synonym of a long and slow descent. The recurring theme sounds like some whale sounds, one that seems ominous, another more reassuring, disturbing yet weirdly absorbing. You don't get in the water, you become part of it.
Indeed, contrarily to "The World of Silence", men don't use respiratory devices or wear equipment, and those who do, meet a fate that seems like punishment for 'cheaters'. You don't cheat the ocean, it is like wilderness you try to tame, and you don't do it without being part of the wilderness yourself, the film isn't about typical divers, these are apneists. Loosely based on the sporting rivalry between two legends Jacques Maiol and Enzo Molinari, the film centers not just on their relationship but also their relationship with the sea and the rest of the world. And what makes the story so appealing is the triangle of characters made of Jean-Marc Barr, Jean Reno and Rosanna Arquette, each one incarnates one side of this triangle of feelings and misunderstandings.
Jacques sees the sea as his world, his respiratory performances are exploited for the purpose of science but it's only with the dolphins that his humanity resurfaces. And Jean-Marc Barr plays him like an eternal mystery drown under the blueness of his eyes, an alien who can only feel if this feeling has any connection with the sea. Johana, the American who falls in love with him, represents the world, she's lovely, smiling, funny, loving but so desperately banal from Jacques' standpoint, yet they fall in love, and it's very fitting that the moment that 'breaks the ice' is set in the water. Finally, Enzo is the character who sticks in our mind, the bridge between the two worlds. He understands both Johana and Jacques, and his flamboyant and charismatic personality can only come from a man who has one foot in the water and one in the real world, the one that can admire him.
Enzo is all hubris, he's the one who brings Jacques to the competition in Sicily, to set a record that's been pending ever since their childhood in Greece. Enzo is not the most competitive of the two, he's the only one, Jacques concedes "you're the best", to which Enzo replies "we'll see". Enzo is a man of honor and can only taste his victory is it's real, his pride is his biggest weakness, so his sad fate doesn't come as a surprise. Because if there are three characters in the film, there is a fourth one too, and I'm not talking of the Dolphins. The ocean or water is omnipresent in the film but not just as a setting but a protagonist too, as if Besson cared less for what happened in the ocean than the aftermath.
When drunken Jacques and Enzo fool around inside a pool, their hangover is one of a kind, when both treat water with respect and dedication, they are victorious, when Enzo pushes his luck too far, he only realizes he's a man when it's too late. The wit's soul is to know one's place, and the essence of the film is that indecisiveness in Jacques, to which world he belongs or maybe he made up his mind already, and that's his misfortune or Johana's tragedy, she who has Jacques' baby playing apnea in her belly, doesn't look at the Ocean as a mistress, but as the one that made Jacques such a wild animal she foolishly wanted to tame, but couldn't because she wasn't part of the wilderness. The ending is sad, but in such a poetical way it feels like the only satisfying one. Besson couldn't paint the ocean is such a cinematic majesty and not let the most humble of his character surrender to it.
"The Big Blue" was the most successful movie of 1988, it became an instant classic thanks to its beautiful cinematography, its iconic score and the scene-stealing performance of 40-year old Jean Reno. Luc Besson wasn't a late bloomer and became the French 'it' director, the one who invented a style that could speak to the audience, mostly the youth (we even saw the film and studied it in 4th Grade). Sometimes, he seems to be much aware of his directing talent and overdoes it a little, too hip and stylish for its own good, even Reno's acting leans toward the comedic, and some unrealistic situations belong to another film as if Besson was also playing with camera like Enzo with water, when you look at the magnificent spectacle the camera achieves, you're ready to forgive all these little flaws..