Quoted from Gary in Houston After seeing it win the Best Documentary oscar, and seeing a trailer on Netflix, I decided to give it a go. It's an interesting idea, following the "relationship" between the swimmer and this octopus over the course of a year, but I will say it didn't grab me the way other documentaries normally do. The cinematography is incredible, no doubt, but I found the whole narrative to be a bit slow and the storyteller himself (the swimmer who constantly encounters the octopus) not that compelling. It's essentially a long episode of Blue Planet, in my opinion. There's some nice moments, and it's fairly short (1 1/2 hours), but overall would not rate this highly in my list of documentaries, but if you enjoy Blue Planet, then there's a good chance you'll enjoy this. |
Quoted from Gary in Houston After seeing it win the Best Documentary oscar, and seeing a trailer on Netflix, I decided to give it a go. It's an interesting idea, following the "relationship" between the swimmer and this octopus over the course of a year, but I will say it didn't grab me the way other documentaries normally do. The cinematography is incredible, no doubt, but I found the whole narrative to be a bit slow and the storyteller himself (the swimmer who constantly encounters the octopus) not that compelling. It's essentially a long episode of Blue Planet, in my opinion. There's some nice moments, and it's fairly short (1 1/2 hours), but overall would not rate this highly in my list of documentaries, but if you enjoy Blue Planet, then there's a good chance you'll enjoy this. |
Quoted from LC I'm going to reserve judgement (Hubby really wants to watch this) but I wonder... I check out Scriptshadow quite a bit (as I know quite a few of you also do) and I read this guy's opinion/summation of it - Uncle Jam (Writer's pseudonym) My Octopus Teacher presents itself as a documentary about a guy overcoming his mild sense of burnout by befriending an octopus. It’s really a movie about a guy harassing an octopus and making its life actively worse in order to make himself feel better. Imagine: You're sitting alone alone in your home. Someone then kicks your door down and yells, "I'M CREATIVELY BURNED OUT AND I CAN'T COMMUNICATE WITH MY KID!!!" This person then proceeds to pat your head, piss on your wall, and constantly film you. Then you move. But the person keeps following you. They do it for the rest of your life, then one day, you die and they just kind of leave. That is pretty much what happens in My Octopus Teacher... There's more to his post than that, but that's the crux. I hope he doesn't mind me quoting him. Well, it's a public forum, and just his opinion, but it certainly made me think. Sometimes things get made and presented in one light when they're not quite as altruistic as we think. Sometimes things veer into exploitative territory. Like I said, I haven't seen it yet and will reserve judgement. Made me think, that's all. |
Quoted from eldave1 Yeah........ I thought he missed the mark a bit. I felt if the guys issue were merely a motivational tool. i.e., really no difference in this and what other under the sea filmmakers do - this one just had an additional backstory |
Quoted from LC I hear you, Dave. We're well on our way to destroying the planet if we're not careful though, and it just made me think, that's all. So now I'll go in with an open mind. |