Adventurer, filmmaker, inventor, author, unlikely celebrity and conservationist: For over four decades, Jacques-Yves Cousteau and his explorations under the ocean became synonymous with a love of science and the natural world. As he learned to protect the environment, he brought the whole world with him, sounding alarms more than 50 years ago about the warming seas and our planet’s vulnerability. In BECOMING COUSTEAU, from National Geographic Documentary Films, two-time Academy Award®-nominated filmmaker Liz Garbus takes an inside look at Cousteau and his life, his iconic films and inventions, and the experiences that made him the 20th century’s most unique and renowned environmental voice — and the man who inspired generations to protect the Earth.
Cinematography
restored 60s/70s underwater footage still breathtaking
Editing
seamless weaving of archive and contemporary reflection
Direction
Garbus lets Cousteau complicate his own myth
Director
Liz Garbus
Jacques-Yves Cousteau
Self (archive footage)
Philippe Cousteau
Self (archive footage)
Jean-Michel Cousteau
Self (archive footage)
Albert Falco
Self (archive footage)
Louis Malle
Self (archive footage)
David L. Wolper
Self (voice) (archive sound)
Carol Burnett
Self (archive footage)
Deborah Norville
Self (archive footage)
Fidel Castro
Self (archive footage)
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Cousteau co-invented the Aqua-Lung in 1943 with Émile Gagnan, essentially creating modern scuba diving by accident while tinkering with car parts.
His 1956 film The Silent World won the Palme d'Or—still the only documentary to do so until Fahrenheit 9/11 in 2004, and featured staged animal violence he later regretted.
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