Review of The Silent World (1956) by Byron B — 14 Jun 2008

While it's always interesting to see what the ocean looked like fifty years ago, The Silent World has otherwise dated badly. This is most apparent in the APPALLING manner in which Costeau and his crew interacts with the wildlife they encounter.

Riding on turtles, ramming and eventually killing a sperm whale, blowing up a lagoon with dynamite(!), and perhaps worst of all, pulling a pile of sharks out of the water and beating them to death for no good reason.

While all of this can generally be attributed to different sensibilites, which have changed over time, it still makes for very tough viewing. Still, fans of Wes Anderson's The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou definitely need to see this.