Fridae

Underwater filming is a murky business; conditions are naturally hostile to photography equipment. There is the diminishing light quality once you hit a certain depth, the ocean current which frustrates even a steadycam. Those are the same conditions that make Earth’s seas more unknown, more mysterious, more uncharted than even outer space itself.

To date, the science and technology of underwater filming has but two seminal names attached to it: Jacques Cousteau, who invented the aqualung and depth pressure-proof camera case for Par dix-huit mètres de fond and Épaves, and James Cameron for diving to the almost unreachable depths of the ocean bed to film the wreck of the Titanic in Titanic.

To these names, we must now add Jacques Perrin. The perfectionist and his crew spent a total of 7 years producing Oceans, developing and refining camera systems and underwater propulsion systems to bring us the first really clear look – and I mean spotlessly clear – at the Earth’s five oceans and its beautiful, sometimes elusive inhabitants in their seasonal migrations. We must get this clear because the extreme clarity of the film, the bright colours, and the intimate shots of whales, seals, and other creatures can seem a little improbable at times. It’s 99.9 % real footage and watching the film, you will feel like a fish amongst fishes, a true audience to their magnificent lives.

As a documentary film, Oceans stands heads and shoulders above CGI-reliant IMAX titles. Its sparse narration here works to its favour; we don’t need a Morgan Freeman attempting to liven up the action when all we need is to stare mesmerised at the screen, at the only film footage of marine behaviour of some difficult to locate, extremely rare and endangered species. And that alone is worth the entry price (and the fact that we didn’t have to visit an aquarium to watch bottled species!).