Hacker Cinema
The Big Blue
Le Grand Bleu
1988 · Film · 168 min
Directed by Luc Besson
Childhood friends Jacques and Enzo share a passion for the danger of free diving. Jacques, following in the footsteps of his father, who died at sea when Jacques was a boy, harbors a remarkable ability to adjust his heart rate and breathing patterns in the water, with his vital signs more closely resembling those of dolphins than men.
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8 comments on Hacker News
I highly recommend the film “The Big Blue” by Luc Besson. One of the best freediving movies based on a fictional story about Jacques Mayol and Enzo Maiorca.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Big_Blue
Very good article on a very special topic. If you haven’t seen it, do yourself a favor/favour and watch the classic movie “The Big Blue” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Big_Blue
Some extra free diving movies: https://www.freediveacademy.com/best-freediving-movies/
"The Big Blue" is a timeless masterpiece and one of my favorite films of all time. The ethereal photography and soundtrack create an otherworldly vibe without veering too far into Lynchian surrealism. Luc Besson is probably better-known for his later action films ("The Professional", "The Fifth Element", etc) but "The Big Blue" is his magnum opus IMHO.
I was a competitive freediver and have lost friends in this sport. Freediving is one of the most dangerous yet most rewarding sports out there.
It connects us to something deep with carry inside ourselves as we all evolved from water. Being able to reach 100m (or even 200m in no-limits competition) on a single breath of air, and be able to withstand crushing pressures is an extraordinary feat for a human body and is akin to dolphins. (I personally competed in pools and reached "only" 30m depth in the open sea albeit with just a mask on).
This tragic event happened in 2015.
In 2002 same faith happened to Audrey Mestre, which was captured (with controversy) in her husband Francisco "Pipin" Ferreras's book The Dive:
https://www.amazon.com/Dive-Story-Love-Obsession/dp/B000GG4GD0
It is a story of great love and Audrey following her husbdand's footsteps (a world champion freediver) into the world of freediving only to become a world class freediver herself until this tragic event took place.
https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=125625&page=1
https://www.deeperblue.com/the-last-attempt/
For those new to freediving, I warmly recommend watching Luc Besson's masterpiece "The Big Blue":
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095250/
For beginner freedivers I recommend reading "Manual of Freediving" by Umberto Pelizzari:
https://www.amazon.it/Manual-Freediving-Underwater-Single-Breath/dp/1928649483
After being a scuba diving assistant to instructor thru one summer, I had similar effect after spending close to 10 hours under water every day for weeks: when I lay down for the night on a flat bed and open my eyes, the whole ceiling would float like a water!
This has be somewhat depicted in movie "The Big Blue" https://youtu.be/82onGmBx9ZM?t=74
Here's a Popular Science article I read a long time ago on this where the author gets to experience free diving:
https://www.popsci.com/scitech/article/2003-06/one-dive-one-breath
Although, my first exposure to the topic was a movie called The Big Blue about a free diver pushing himself to and past his limits. Had Jean Reno in it. Just found out it was Luc Besson's movie, too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82onGmBx9ZM
Reminds me of a great movie about two competing free divers: The Big Blue (Le Grand Bleu) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095250/
It also has a sad ending...
Sort of OT: is the movie, "The Big Blue" semi-realistic? Or is 'only' beautiful?