The Silent World
Directed by Jacques-Yves Cousteau and Louis Malle
Written by Jacque-Yves Cousteau
1956/France
FSJYC Production/Raquin Associes/Societe Filmad/Titanus
First viewing/YouTube[box] The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever. — Jacques Yves Cousteau [/box]

Not what I was expecting.  The Calypso kills a baby whale with its propeller and the crew “avenges its death” by massacring a bunch of sharks.

During the Calypso’s voyage we get life on board, lots of coral reefs, divers, fish, a sunken ship, the aforementioned whale encounter, turtle rides, a storm, and a desert island.

How times have changed!  It doesn’t stop with the Calypso getting so close to a pod of whales that it bumps into one, knocking the breath out of it, and mortally wounds a baby. Then the crew punishes a ton of sharks for being attracted to its blood.  That’s not enough.  The crew feels compelled to hitch a ride on a sea turtle by hanging on to its flipper and riding a bunch of giant tortoises on the Galapagos that surely weigh less than they do.  All this I believe was in the name of “drama”.  Of course the most effective and beautiful scenes are simple observation of underwater life.  We’ve seen them all many times before but Cousteau pioneered them.

The Silent World won the Academy Award for Best Documentary, Feature.

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