Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!: Oceans/Océans (2009, documentary) - Marvels galore in Cluzard/Perrin's outstanding work

10/30/2022

Oceans/Océans (2009, documentary) - Marvels galore in Cluzard/Perrin's outstanding work

♥♥♥♥♥

+ Best Nature Movie of the Year

A stunning image of a majestic blue whale adorns this poster for Jacques Perrin and Jacques Cluzard's Oceans

The oceans are home to a virtual galaxy of diverse life, which we don't normally see and fail to protect adequately.

Oceans is written by François Sarano (Le Clan des Cachalots (2019, TV movie)), Michael Katims (Ciudad Baja (1994)), Laurent Gaudé (Nulle Part en France (2016, short)), Stéphane Durand (Winged Migration/Le Peuple Migrateur (2001)), Christophe Cheysson (Voyager/Homo Faber (1991, second assistant director)), Laurent Debas and great French filmmakers, co-writer/co-director Jacques Cluzard and co-writer/co-producer/co-director/narrator Jacques Perrin (Winged Migration/Le Peuple Migrateur (2001), both).

It is a formidable nature documentary with exceptionally beautiful recordings as pearls on a string. Dolphins, sea turtles, seals, crabs, sharks and whales are captured in ways that make the spectator almost doubt his eyes. The sublime grandness of the wild spectacle of life can make one zone out some, simply because its veracity is so staggering. The beauty can at times seem as if it must be from another planet entirely (or manufactured with computer programs.)

But then Oceans takes a sharp dive, as it takes on a portrayal of man's over-exploitation and horrific pollution of the seas. (SPOILER A shark loses its fins in a heartbreaking, seemingly reconstructed scene.) The film cries out against the aquarium cultivation of the vast natural life in our oceans and for a changed course and responsible human behavior.

Oceans also has sequences of marine life in motion that rivals any ballet dancer in elegance, and the film makes the viewer want to support the world seas. One wonders afterward how come the ending doesn't endorse some trustworthy organization involved with the protection of the oceans. (The diverse list of benefactors to the film's production, including an oil and energy company, royals and a sheikh, may indirectly explain this.)

Jacques Perrin: 2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]

Cinema Paradiso/Nuovo Cinema Paradiso (1988) - Tornatore's timeless masterpiece (co-star)

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 80 mil. $

Box office: 83 mil. $

= Huge flop (returned 1.03 times its cost)

[Oceans premiered 13 October (Middle East International Film Festival, UAE) and runs 104 minutes with an alternative Disney edit without the parts about humanity's negative influence on the oceans running 84 minutes. A staggering 37 companies and support bodies collaborated in the financing and production of the film. Shooting reportedly took place in more than 50 countries over the course of 4 years. The film opened #8 to a 6 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it grossed 19.4 mil. $ (23.4 % of the total gross). North America was the film's 3rd biggest market. The two biggest were Japan with 25.5 mil. $ (30.7 %) and France with 23.8 mil. $ (28.7 %). The film won 1/3 César award nominations. Cluzard and Perrin returned with Le Peuple des Océans (2011, miniseries)) and theatrically with Seasons/Les Saisons (2015). Oceans is certified fresh at 80 % with a 7.40/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Oceans?

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William Friedkin has died

Born in Chicago, Friedkin accrued TV credits prior to his advance to the big screen as the director of Good TImes (1967), The Birthday Party (1968), The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968) and The Boys in the Band (1970) before his major breakthrough, The French Connection (1971), for which he won his only Oscar. He followed it up with the even bigger smash, The Exorcist (1973), arguably the best horror film of all time, for which he was Oscar-nominated. Later credits include Sorcerer (1977), Cruising (1980), To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), Rampage (1987), Rules of Engagement (2000), Killer Joe (2011) and The Devil and Father Amorth (2017, documentary). Friedkin passed away at age 87. R.I.P.

Louise Fletcher has passed away

Born in Alabama to deaf parents, Fletcher got her first credits in late-1950s TV-series.She took a 10 year-long sabbatical to devote her time to motherhood after the release of A Gathering of Eagles, but then came back and soon saw her career's most important part, as Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), for which she won her sole Oscar. Later credits include Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), The Lucky Star (1980), Brainstorm (1983), Two Moon Junction (1988), Cruel Intentions (1999), A Perfect Man (2013) and many more. Fletcher passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Jean-Luc Godard has passed away

Born in Paris, France, Godard lived much of his life in Switzerland. He wrote for French film criticism magazine Cahiers du Cinema and became foundational for the New French Wave that inspired new waves in scores of other countries across the world with his Breathless (1960). Later credits include A Woman Is A Woman (1961), Vivre Sa Vie (1962), Le Petit Soldat (1962), Contempt (1963), Alphaville (1965), Pierrot le Fou (1965), 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (1967), Weekend (1967), Every Man for Himself (1980), King Lear (1987), Century of Cinema (1995, documentary), Goodbye to Language (2014) and many more. Godard died of assisted suicide at age 91. R.I.P.

Wolfgang Petersen has died

James Caan has died

Caan was born the son of Jewish immigrants from Germany in New York. He got his start on TV in the early 1960s. His credits include El Dorado (1966), The Rain People (1969), Brian's Song (1971, TV movie), The Godfather (1972), - for which he earned his only Oscar nomination, - Slither (1973), The Gambler (1974), Funny Lady (1975), Rollerball (1975), Silent Movie (1976), Hide in Plain Sight (1980), - the only film he also directed, - Thief (1981), Misery (1990), Honeymoon in Vegas (1992), Bottle Rocket (1996), Eraser (1996), Dogville (2003), Elf (2003), Las Vegas (2003-07), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) and many more. Caan passed away at age 82. R.I.P.

Jean-Louis Trintignant has died

Born in Vaucluse, France, Trintignant's theatrical debut as an actor was in If All the Guys in the World... (1955). Later credits include ...And God Created Woman (1956), The Seven Deadly Sins (1961), Inferno (1964), A Man and A Woman (1966), My Love, My Love (1967), A Man to Kill (1967), The Great Silence (1968), Z (1969), The Assassination (1972), Three Colors: Red (1994), Amour (2012), Happy End (2017) and many more. He also wrote and directed two films in the 1970s. Trintignant passed away at age 91. R.I.P.

Ray Liotta has died

Adopted from an orphenage at a young age, Liotta got hooked on acting in high school. He had various TV credits in the late 1970s and early 80s, with his film debut in The Lonely Lady (1983). Later credits include Something Wild (1986), Field of Dreams (1989), Goodfellas (1990), Cop Land (1997), Hannibal (2001), Blow (2001), Narc (2002), John Q (2002), Identity (2003), Observe and Report (2009), Youth in Revolt (2009), The Details (2011), Killing THem Softly (2012), The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), Shades of Blue (2016-18), The Simpsons (2018, TV-series), Marriage Story (2019), The Many Saints of Newark (2021), Black Bird (2022, TV-series) and many more. Liotta passed away at age 67 in his sleep while on production in the Dominican Republic. R.I.P.

Philip Baker Hall has died

Born in Ohio, Hall didn't start acting until he was 30. His long list of credits include Zabriskie Point (1970), Miami Vice (1987, TV-series), Midnight Run (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Cheers (1993, TV-series), Hard Eight (1996), The Rock (1996), Air Force One (1997), Boogie Nights (1997), Seinfeld (1991-98), Rush Hour (1998), The Insider (1999), Magnolia (1999), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Bruce Almighty (2003), Dogville (2003), The Zodiac (2005), Zodiac (2007), Curb Your Enthusiasm (2004-09), Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011), Modern Family (2011-12) and many more. Hall passed away at age 90. R.I.P.

William Hurt has passed away

Born in Washington D.C., Hurt's first film role was the lead in Altered States (1980). Later credits include Body Heat (1981), The Big Chill (1983), Gorky Park (1983), Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985), for which he earned his only Oscar as Best Actor; Chilrdren of a Lesser God (1986), for which he was also Oscar-nominated; Broadcast News (1987), for which he was again Oscar-nominated; Smoke (1995), A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001), A History of Violence (2005), for which he was again Oscar-nominated; The Good Shepherd (2006), Into the Wild (2007), Robin Hood (2010) and many more. Hurt passed away at age 71. R.I.P.

Ivan Reitman has passed away

Born in Chechoslovakia, now Slovakia, Reitman's family fled the Soviet regime to Austria, then Toronto, when he was 4 years old. Reitman broke into movies as a director with Foxy Lady (1971). Later credits include Cannibal Girls (1973), Meatballs (1979), Stripes (1981), Ghostbusters (1984), Twins (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Kindergarten Cop (1990), Junior (1994), Father's Day (1997), Evolution (1998), No Strings Attached (2011), Draft Day (2014) and more. Reitman's son Jason Reitman is also a great filmmaker. Reitman passed away at age 75. R.I.P.

Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!

Eagerly anticipating this week ... (6-24)

10/30/2022

Oceans/Océans (2009, documentary) - Marvels galore in Cluzard/Perrin's outstanding work

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