The Big Blue
Directed by Luc Besson
- romance
- adventure
- drama
The story
Childhood friends Jacques and Enzo share a passion for the danger of free diving. Jacques, following in the footsteps of his father, who died at sea when Jacques was a boy, harbors a remarkable ability to adjust his heart rate and breathing patterns in the water, with his vital signs more closely resembling those of dolphins than men.
What it’s like
Deep blue water fills the frame for much of The Big Blue, with sunlight fracturing into green-gold shafts above and a hush of pure underwater silence broken only by breath and the slow pulse of the sea. Luc Besson shoots the Mediterranean and Greek islands in saturated, dreamlike tones: sun-bleached whitewashed villages, rope-coiled fishing boats, cobalt light that turns cold and hypnotic the deeper the divers go. Camera movement is long and unhurried, drifting alongside bodies in the water as if weightless. The score, by Eric Serra, leans on pulsing synth and wide, swelling strings, so the music often feels like the ocean's own heartbeat. The pace is meditative and patient, with stretches of quiet staring at the horizon. Its vibe is melancholy and transcendent, a dreamy longing for the infinite, best suited to a slow evening or a late-night solo watch. Violence is absent, though there is grief, a death of a parent long past, and a suicidal undertow in the final act, handled with sorrowful restraint rather than graphic detail. Physical danger in the diving is real and tense. It suits viewers who want romantic, contemplative cinema about obsession, friendship and the pull of the sea.
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