The film pulls from an archive of newly-restored footage The New York Times calls “enthralling.”
By Alexandra Gillespie
Among Cousteau’s many marine accomplishments — from his famed underwater documentary The Silent World to worldwide oceanic research aboard the iconic Calypso — the former French Naval Officer invented the first commercially-successful open-circuit, self-contained underwater breathing apparatus (SCUBA) system, the Aqua-Lung, in the early 1940s.
“In order to go deeper, in order to stay longer, I became an inventor by necessity,” Cousteau says in an archival recording in the film’s trailer.
“Adventurer, filmmaker, inventor, author, unlikely celebrity and conservationist: For over four decades, Jacques-Yves Cousteau and his explorations under the ocean became synonymous with a love of science and the natural world,” reads the film’s synopsis. “As he learned to protect the environment, he brought the whole world with him, sounding alarms more than 50 years ago about the warming seas and our planet’s vulnerability… [Becoming Cousteau] takes an inside look at Cousteau and his life, his iconic films and inventions, and the experiences that made him the 20th century’s most unique and renowned environmental voice — and the man who inspired generations to protect the Earth.”
Source: scuba diving – https://www.scubadiving.com/national-geographic-documentary-becoming-cousteau-hits-theaters?dom=rss-default&src=syn
