under the deep water

Rating: Null/10 (6 July 2010)

At first, the reason why I chose to watch this film was the beautiful movie poster that was portrayed like a commercial advertisement about the sea made by a travel agency. No wonder the poster was nominated as a Best Poster Award at the Cesar Awards France in 1989.
Luc Besson is a great director. In this film he didn't disappoint me at all. He became a household name in the same year. This story is based on his childhood dream. Due to his parents who worked as diving instructors, he dreamed of being a dolphin trainer. He grew up near the shore of the Mediterranean. This experience affected the movie a lot and made the unbelievable atmosphere. In the last scene with a dolphin, he put an extraordinary visual element into the movie. And also the soundtrack is one of the wonderful aspects in this movie.The music deserved to get a Cesar Award as a best sound in 1989.
Johana (Rosanna Arquette), Jacques (Jean-Mark Barr), Enjo (Jean Reno) are the 3 main characters who conflict emotions with each other and lead the story to the end. The dolphins and the ocean are also the main elements to understand Jacques who is going through mental problem caused by his father's death. He looks lonesome but composed. He needs friends to share his dreams and worries with, but once somebody gets close to him, he runs away from them and goes to the water and dolphins. He doesn't seem to know how to get along with people. On the contrast dolphins look like his sole friends. Jacques and Enjo are childhood friends but also rivals in many ways. If Enjo devotes all his energies to diving so as to access to success and glory, the sea is more than this for Jacques. He was born with it, and the sea will lead him to death. When his rival Enjo dies at the competition, he is in agony and sends him to the sea where he loves. The ocean means all this to Jacques. I'm scared to be in the dark like in the deep dark ocean, but Jacques looks very comfortable and happy with dolphins under the deep dark ocean. The calm and peaceful music makes the scenes under the water astonishing. Music and his move with dolphins make a good combination. Johana is quite logical and sensible as a magazine reporter but she is getting emotional and feels sorry for Jacques. That makes her hard to concentrate on her job about the divers. But she can't help it but falls in love with him.
If you're a big fan of Hollywood theatrical releases, you might not love it with no action, no chases, no dangerous cliffhangers, no guns and no explosions. It doesn't even has bad guys. It's more than a love story, or a friendship. You'll be happy when Jacques and Johanna finally love each other, you feel how the ocean is beautiful and peaceful when Jacques dives with the dolphins and you'll cry with Johanna when he doesn't come back. And yes, for him, it's the best of endings, because he doesn't belong here, he really belongs more to the sea than to us.
This film is quite different from Hollywood movies, but there are some aspects to attract us to watch more than once. You can think about your life, love and family. It'll help you understand other European movies also.