Jacques Cousteau: The French moviemaker Wes Anderson has “always loved”
Only the very best movie directors manage to douse their films with a sense of genuine uniqueness, and looking at the works of Wes Anderson, it’s clear that he has managed to achieve such a feat. With one of the most recognisable visual aesthetics in modern cinema, as well as narratives of the quirkiest kind, it’s easy to see why Anderson is as acclaimed as he undoubtedly is.
Early movies like Bottle Rocket and Rushmore helped to establish Anderson in the canon of contemporary cinema and as he progressed through the likes of The Royal Tenenbaums, The Darjeeling Limited, Fantastic Mr. Fox and The Grand Budapest Hotel, stars of high note consistently joined his casts, proving his reputation for excellence.
Of course, like any filmmaker worth their salt, Anderson is a great fan of the cinematic medium itself and has frequently stated his love for some of his favourite directors. We know well that Anderson loves the Japanese masters Hideaki Anno, Hayao Miyazaki and Akira Kurosawa, as well as the films of Stanley Kubrick and Federico Fellini.
In terms of French filmmakers, Anderson also has a place in his heart for Jean Renoir, plus another for a very unique director from the European country. Not many directors would be keen on admitting to their love for the French naval officer-turned oceanographer, filmmaker and author Jacques Cousteau, but the truth is that Anderson absolutely adores his works.
Speaking with the BBC, Anderson once noted, “I love Jacques Cousteau. I’ve always loved Jacques Cousteau. I love his whole persona and his films.” Cousteau was known for co-inventing the first successful SCUBA equipment, which he called the Aqua-Lung, and which subsequently allowed him to create some of the first underwater documentary films.
After making several voyages under the sea, Cousteau wrote of his experiences in his book The Silent World, which was later adapted into a documentary. In the 1960s and 1970s, Cousteau arrived in living rooms across the world with his television series The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau, which left a deep impression on Wes Anderson, who later dedicated his 2004 film The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou to the oceanographer.
In the BBC interview, Anderson explained, “I dedicated the film to him, because, well, I won’t go into the details. Actually, I wanted to dedicate the film to Cousteau, but we ultimately, legally, had to make this disclaimer. It says: ‘We dedicate this film to Jacques Cousteau and the Cousteau Society, who were not involved with this production.’ The emphasis for them [the studio] was the latter part.”
The Life Aquatic saw Bill Murray play an eccentric oceanographer who aims to bring vengeance to a shark that ate his partner, with Anderson providing a parody and homage to the works of Cousteau. With Owen Wilson, Cate Blanchett, Willem Dafoe, Michael Gambon, Jeff Goldblum and Anjelica Huston in tow, Anderson had one hell of a cast at his disposal to offer his respects to one of his favourite filmmakers of all time.
Cousteau was also responsible for inspiring James Cameron to make his films Titanic and The Abyss, seeing as he viewed his television series as a child and was immediately taken with the idea of diving to the ocean’s floor, so the French filmmaker has certainly played his hand in bringing contemporary cinematic brilliance to the big screen.
