According to an article
published by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, more than 80
percent of the earth’s oceans remain unexplored. I realize that this is a
statistic that gets thrown around a lot as a fun bit of trivia, but I challenge
you to really think about it; when coupled with the fact that over 70 percent
of our world is ocean, this means that we know very little about more than half
of the planet that we call home. If space is the final frontier, then the
oceans are definitely the semifinal frontier. But while the seas are a
fascinating hotbed of unexplored potential, they can also be terrifying, dark,
and alien. Such locales are usually best seen with an experienced guide who
knows his or her way around, and when there are no Sherpas or Sméagols around,
an octopus will have to do. My Octopus Teacher is one such mollusky
tale that is occasionally boring, occasionally beautiful, and one that is much
more of a personal narrative than an academic one.
The
first thing that struck me when watching this new Netflix documentary was how
pretty a lot of it is. I’m not a guy who usually cares about picture quality
(I’m not even sure if my TV is HD or 4K),
but My Octopus Teacher is one of those
films that higher definitions were made for. Maybe this is true of any
sea-based documentary… I wouldn’t know, as I’m not exactly an aficionado. But
when you throw some soothing music on top of it all, the whole thing makes for
a pleasant experience, if not a riveting one. The narrator’s voice is
uncommonly boring to listen to, and the action never moves beyond the same
stretch of water. I would be lying if I said my attention didn’t
wander occasionally or that I felt like falling asleep more than once, but
overall it was a harmless hour-and-a-half that made me smile and feel at peace
as much as it made me bored.
The
story itself basically boils down to this: A guy is feeling depressed (is he
having a mid-life crisis? Going through a divorce? The backstory is murky and
unclear) and decides to take up diving. He meets a cool octopus and it teaches
him about life. That’s… pretty much it. It is a small and intimate tale that
made me think of the important relationships I have had with animals in my own life and even made me want to
have an octopus friend before I remembered I find
them creepy and gross. This is not a documentary that throws facts at you (I
didn’t learn anything new about octopuses), but one that
makes you feel if you let it.
Will
I remember My Octopus Teacher in a year? No. I
honestly doubt that I’ll remember anything about it beyond next week or so as I
move on to my next review. But for those who need a
reminder of the beauty and terror of nature (or for those who have run out of
melatonin), My Octopus Teacher will do just fine.
My Octopus Teacher is now available on
Netflix.
This review was first published in The Keizertimes on October 9th, 2020. Visit at http://keizertimes.com/
Hindsight: After I wrote this I found out that the documentary had gotten rave reviews and I don't really get it. Like I said, it's touching, but also pretty boring. My intro paragraph was a bit long on this one. Screw intro paragraphs... They're annoying and I hate them.
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