Dolphin Man

"How deep can you go on a single breath?"

Feb 1 2018 N/A 1h 20m
Documentary

As well as providing the subject for Luc Besson’s The Big Blue, Jacques Mayol did more than anyone to establish the sport of free diving to enormous depths without an oxygen supply. Using breathing techniques derived from yoga, he went to 50, 60, and even 100 meters—depths no one had considered to be within the bounds of human possibility. Mayol was a sportsman, a mystic, a vagabond, but above all, a man who believed in testing the limits of experience. This visually stunning tribute shows a man’s quest to be at one with the vastness of the ocean and to have no fear of the abyss within, where lurks serenity, freedom and finally, death.

Plot

Dolphin Man draws us into the world of Jacques Mayol, capturing his compelling journey and immersing viewers into the sensory and transformative experience of free-diving. From the Mediterranean to Japan and from India to the Bahamas, we meet Mayol's closest friends and family, including his children Dottie and Jean-Jacques, and world free-diving champions William Trubridge, Mehgan Heaney-Grier and Umberto Pelizzari, to reveal the portrait of a man who reached the limits of the human body and mind, not just to break records but hoping to discover the deeper affinity between human beings and the sea. Narrated by Jean-Marc Barr, the actor who famously portrayed Mayol in The Big Blue, the film weaves together rare film archive from the 1950s onwards, with stunning contemporary underwater photography, to discover how the 'dolphin man' revolutionized free-diving and brought a new consciousness to our relationship with the sea and our inner-selves.

Written by

Yuri Averof, Lefteris Charitos

Directed by

Lefteris Charitos

Cast

Jacques Mayol, Jean-Marc Barr, Umberto Pelizzari

Crew

View crew

Production Countries

Canada, Italy, Japan, France, Greece

Production Companies

Impleo, ARTE GEIE, Storyline Entertainment, Les Films du Balibari, Wowow Films, Anemon Productions, EPT, Greek Film Centre

Languages

English, Français, Italiano

Awards

1 win & 2 nominations

Scores
# of Votes
383
Average Rating
7 out of 10
Metascore
NA
Popularity
NA