A rich history of underwater filmmaking and how it has profoundly
influenced the aesthetics of movies and public perception of the
oceans
In The Underwater Eye, Margaret Cohen tells the fascinating story of
how the development of modern diving equipment and movie camera
technology has allowed documentary and narrative filmmakers to take
human vision into the depths, creating new imagery of the seas and the
underwater realm, and expanding the scope of popular imagination.
Innovating on the most challenging film set on earth, filmmakers have
tapped the emotional power of the underwater environment to forge new
visions of horror, tragedy, adventure, beauty, and surrealism,
entertaining the public and shaping its perception of ocean reality.
Examining works by filmmakers ranging from J. E. Williamson, inventor of
the first undersea film technology in 1914, to Wes Anderson, who filmed
the underwater scenes of his 2004 The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
entirely in a pool, The Underwater Eye traces how the radically alien
qualities of underwater optics have shaped liquid fantasies for more
than a century. Richly illustrated, the book explores documentaries by
Jacques Cousteau, Louis Malle, and Hans Hass, art films by Man Ray and
Jean Vigo, and popular movies and television shows such as 20,000
Leagues Under the Sea, Creature from the Black Lagoon, Sea Hunt,
the Bond films, Jaws, The Abyss, and Titanic. In exploring the
cultural impact of underwater filmmaking, the book also asks compelling
questions about the role film plays in engaging the public with the
remote ocean, a frontline of climate change.
