The Odyssey stays on the surface of the phenomenon Cousteau – Le Figaro

CHRONIC - Every Tuesday, Le Figaro is the guest of The Morning France Culture. This week, Bertrand de Saint Vincent evokes the beautiful movie by Jérôme Salle which recounts the destiny legendary commander of the Calypso but does not explore in enough depth to his complex personality.

In this beginning of autumn, the French cinema tries with more or less success, the biopic, the kind of film that attaches to track with the truth, the life of a figure who actually existed. In this area, the Americans excellent and it is still remembered the poignant performances of Jamie Foxx in Ray Charles or Philip Seymour Hoffman in Truman Capote. The viewer really had the feeling to see them live, to suffer, to construct in front of them their fabulous career.

The French directors, unfortunately, sometimes have the tendency to get lost in the decor. The release, last month, Cézanne and me, providing an overview of this temptation chromo. Two Guillaume Gallienne and Canet, by very good actors, performed the the a the painter Cezanne and the writer emile Zola. Both impeccably bearded, the first always angry, the second obviously exhausted, gave the impression to pose in front of the camera, as models to an artist. The image of these “models”, at the end of an hour, we baillait of boredom.

The Odyssey avoids this pitfall. We do not get bored in this spectacular feature-length film that traces the ways that we guess colossal destiny legendary jacques Cousteau. Everything is there, one might be tempted to say, the boat, the family, the ocean with its waves, the Antarctic, with its blocks of ice, the whales, the sharks, the fish, the maw of mariners and the famous red bonnet of the hero. The bodies are athletic, Audrey Tautou, who plays the wife of Cousteau, Simone, has, we are assured, the banter, the character, and over time, the eye painful. The son of the character, including the principal, Philip, who is portrayed by Pierre Niney, and serves as a conductive wire, are well dug in. Used and sacrificed to satisfy the ambitions and dreams of conquest of a father absent, it vibrates with their anger, their revolt, at the same time that we guess their fascination for this to be non-standard.

But what about the main character? In the title role, Lambert Wilson does not detract. Beautiful, and aging as he should, he composed a hero ambiguous of which the director, Jérôme Salle sketch with care the selfishness frenzied, the betrayals sentimental and opportunism mercantile. But it does not dive to the inside of his double. It remains on the surface. We don’t feel the dreams, the megalomania, the drunkenness, the excesses of the phenomenon Cousteau. The result gives a nice film, in which we predicted a broad popular success, with beautiful images and moments of emotion. But not the odyssey of a giant.