Blood "N" Bubbles

The History of Diving In the Movies.

Hold your breath and try to name this movie. Made in 1988, this French film is based on the 1950 exploits of Jacques Mayol. Starring Susan Arquette, Jean Reno and Jean-Marc, most of this overlong flick is spent at a depth of 250 feet with men who know how to make a little air last and last and last.

Answer

The movie was the Big Blue . It is an almost true film about free diving and is loosely based on the 1950's exploits of Jacques Mayol; a Frenchman who broke every record there was in breathhold diving.

This is an interesting film, especially when one considers that the free divers hit depths unreachable by scuba divers. To get to 250 feet the men hyperventilate and then ride slides down a marked rope, setting their own flag on the line before swimming back to fresh air.

The film work is, well, breathtaking. The underwater photography takes its audience into the Zen world that the breath holders work themselves into. This film has attained cult status in Europethey call it Blue Mania. In 1989, due to popular demand the movie was re-released in France in a special three hour version! Big Blue continues to be a hot topic on the Internet. A university student in Uxbridge, UK sent a message to the world in 1995 saying that the movie is great but "Does anyone know exactly what is going on? The only film I've seen with such an esoteric and awkward ending is 2001. Perhaps someone knows what is going on?" (So far no one has ventured an answer to these questions that bubble out of the web.)

In North America, thanks in no small part to a 'special' end tacked onto the film for American viewers, there were more bubbles in the picture than there were audiences in the theatres. I saw a dubbed, edited version of the Big Blue on an aeroplane trip to Houston. My seat mates had trouble figuring out how Susan Arquette fit into the story. It might come to us, but we are not going to hold our breath waiting for that answer. A director's cut is now available on laser disc. Check out the added scene where the cameras take you inside a diving bell. The crew get drunk and end up dancing on the bell's bed 900 feet down!

For the record, there are five versions of Big Blue that I have seen mention of. Those are: 1. The original French-release version (136 minutes) 2. The American release version (cut to 119 minutes, with Eric Serra's score replaced by one by Bill Conti 3. The British release version (cut to 119 mins) 4. The aeroplane version (censored) 5. The French-released "version longue" (approximately 165 mins).