Becoming Cousteau, dir. Liz Garbus, USA 2021, 93 min., English / French with English subtitles
From tirelessly sailing the seas aboard his famous ship Calypso – capturing staggering images for the environmental cause – to inventing underwater breathing device the Aqua-Lung and winning the 1956 Palme d’Or with Louis Malle for their film The Silent World, few people can claim having led such an intrepid and rich life as Cousteau.
Oscar-nominated director Liz Garbus (What Happened, Miss Simone?) crafts an all-encompassing and utterly engrossing portrait of the man, featuring a wealth of never-before-seen archive footage, remastered in 4K for startling clarity.
What ultimately emerges is the story of someone who transformed ideas about our relationship with the sea and became an early campaigner for a safe and clean climate. Becoming Cousteau shows that this explorer’s story is more relevant now than ever.
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