Two men answer the call of the ocean in this romantic fantasy-adventure. Jacques and Enzo are a pair of friends who have been close since childhood, and who share a passion for the dangerous sport of free diving. Professional diver Jacques opted to follow in the footsteps of his father, who died at sea when Jacques was a boy; to the bewilderment of scientists, Jacques harbors a remarkable ability to adjust his heart rate and breathing pattern in the water, so that his vital signs more closely resemble that of dolphins than men. As Enzo persuades a reluctant Jacques to compete against him in a free diving contest -- determining who can dive deeper and longer without scuba gear -- Jacques meets Johana, a beautiful insurance investigator from America, and he finds that he must choose between his love for her and his love of the sea.
Introspective story with a good Jean Reno and innocent Rosanna Arquette.
Sound track, for those loving Eric Sierra. Not for all tastes. A little bit too long but entartaining.
Filipe Manuel Neto
@FilipeManuelNeto
A film unjustly forgotten these days.
I confess that I didn't quite know what to expect from this movie. All I knew was that it was wildly successful in the decade it was released, and that nowadays hardly anyone remembers it. It is directed by Luc Besson, a French director whom I respect and consider competent.
The screenplay is based on the relationship between Jacques and Enzo (I assume one will be French and the other Italian). They are childhood friends, but grow apart shortly after the accidental death of Jacques' father. Already in adult life, the two become apnea diving champions and rivals for the world title of the specialty. The story works reasonably well, but it skids a lot on the amorous subplot created around the character of Johana Baker, which feels very underwritten.
The film has a strong French cast led effectively by Jean Reno, who is one of the best French actors working today, at least for me. He gives his character a dour humor and a certain sassiness that I felt was very fitting. Jean-Marc Barr also does a good job, but he lacks Reno's charisma and presence. Rosanna Arquette is beautiful, elegant, but nothing more than a pretty face for the film. The material she received is downright poor.
Luc Besson likes the sea, and films where the cinematography and the soundtrack artistically dominate and absorb our senses. With this film, he gives us all that, in generous doses, thanks to the beauty of the Mediterranean Sea, magnificently filmed in superb scenes, below and above the water level, and to an excellent soundtrack, by Eric Serra. The editing was also very well directed and the film has a very pleasant pace. All of these are reasons to revisit and revalue a film that seems to me to be unfairly forgotten.
