"Everything is better in the bottom of the sea"

Rating: 8/10 (22 April 2005)

I have watched a lot of cinema; I love it. But through the years, I haven't locked myself up in my own world, with my own types of films and actors. That doesn't work. I've tried to listen older people, and learn from them. They know much more and they always want to show it. I wasn't even in the world when some of them probably saw "Le Grand Bleu", Luc Besson's third full-length written and directed feature. They were the ones that said to me in some occasion: "European is the best cinema".
"Le grand Bleu" has encouraged me to watch more European movies. I have watched some, but not enough. In this world full of the American films (I mean USA), which is the most distributed cinema, we don't get much more. We get French movies spoken in English so everyone can understand them; I'm talking about "Swimming Pool". These movies try to show what European cinema is about, and they fail most of the times. "Le grand Bleu" is spoken in three languages; English, French and Italian. But that's another story, because of the characters in the script. The film was realized by French people; it's a French movie.
Now the characters are incredibly complex, and we get to know them with their own cultures and thoughts. The film manages to amaze us with the language exchange, so we can hear every accent without missing the plot. The characters were written this way. Enzo (Jean Reno) is eating pasta at a restaurant. He's Italian. One minute later his mother arrives and he gives his dish to Johana (Rosanna Arquette). Her mother doesn't allow him to pasta unless she cooks it! Jacques (Jean-Marc Barr) is a unique person. He lost his father when he was young; he died diving. Enzo was there. However, Jacques dives every day of his life. It's his nature maybe. He reaches depth levels that human beings can't. Johana sees the uniqueness in him; and falls in love, without knowing that uniqueness could betray her feelings later on.
After many years, Enzo and Jacques meet again in an unbelievable event. "Get me the petit-français (little French in English)", Enzo says. There's a diving competition and Enzo, the world champion, invites Jacques because he could be beaten by him. They haven't seen each other for years, but it's like they know everything about them; you'll find out. Enzo is arrogant and selfish, knows about women and about love. Jacques is the opposite: honest, humble and he needs to ask questions about everything but he doesn't know how. His honesty is remarkably raw: "I'm going to beat you", he tells Enzo. Of course he will; he knows it more than anyone. The situations you'll see in this movie, you won't see them ever again. As I was trying to explain, Besson's movie escapes the world of clichés and simplicity, creating a whole different world for each of its scenes.
Wonderful scenes, I must say. As Besson tells the story, he takes us to every kind of place (countries) and does it magically. Starting in Greece, then Italy, USA, Perú...It's amazing. And the sea...Well, the film's about it, but I don't want to spoil much. I will only say: If the sea could be a country, because Besson makes it look like one. He wanders over the water as if he owned it. He also goes underwater, introducing us to the dolphins (my favorite animals) in Jacques' world. They are his family and he admits it. "No human being has this type of family", he explains to Johana. He belongs with them, somehow; he belongs with the sea. The last scenes are gifts from cinematography to us. The music is another world of its own. What a man must Eric Serra be! I make music, and this is a dream score for a film. It just fits perfectly in every frame, with its peaceful sound. For a moment I thought I would dive into the sea, and listen to those melodies, because I wouldn't mind at all.
Many things are left to be said here that I wouldn't finish today. The ending has an emotional power I haven't seen in a long time. We understand it if we have watched the film. It's right there for us; we don't need to be guessing because the movie is not trying hard to achieve the metaphor. But long before, Jacques is lying in a jetty and watches the water. Then a few dolphins arrive. He looks at them, they look at him and he speaks: "Thank you". He's happy.