‘Becoming Cousteau’ Beautifully Celebrates The Man But Gives Short Shrift To His Legacy [Telluride Review]
Explorer, inventor, activist, and oceanographic popularizer, Jacques-Yves Cousteau introduced millions to the glories of the ocean through his popular movies. But he hated when people called them “documentaries.” Instead, he wanted his cinematic work—filled as it was with danger, awe, exotic mysteries, and a crew of wild-eyed nautical vagabonds wandering the oceans in an old minesweeper looking for excitement—known as “true adventure films.” The man we are treated to in Liz Garbus’s documentary “Becoming Cousteau” might have seen himself more as a filmmaker than naturalist, but he was first and foremost an adventurer.