In an age where the ramifications of global warming, commercial over-fishing and mass industrialisation are clear, it would seem that humanity doesn’t care about the other life forms it shares the planet with. Whether it’s wildlife, agriculture or the oceans that surround us, we seem to be on a mission to destroy it. With this in mind, directors Jacques Perrin and Jacques Cluzaud’s ecological docu-drama explores the wonders of the subaquatic world and shows the beauty we are slowing wiping out.
Taking a refreshing approach to the documentary style, Cluzaud and Perrin don’t bombard you with facts; instead they use a sequence of Herzog-esque images and videos of sea life. With vast panning shots of the power and strength of the ocean waves, coupled with shots of some of the most dangerous animals on the planet, Perrin and Cluzaud are able to successfully emphasise how insignificant humanity is when it’s up against nature. However, soon this idyllic landscape is whipped away as we are left with the grim realisation of the fishing net casualties, whaling, pollution and the ever shrinking polar icecaps. In this epic investigation, Perrin and Cluzaud express the idea that the story of the ocean has only just begun, the question however is: why are we intent on ruining it?