Here's one from a couple of weeks back in my Cinema of Exploration class. Jacques Cousteau takes viewers aboard the Calypso to explore the hidden wonders of the deep using the most cutting edge technology available in 1956: the Aqualung. It's also notable for having been filmed in Technicolor, as most documentaries were not.
The pros are that it's like going back in time to when the ocean was nearly unspoiled. The wildlife and corals on display are beautiful and the camera work is really well edited.
The cons, however, are numerous. First, there's the infamous baby whale scene. While chasing a pod of sperm whales, the Calypso accidentally runs over a baby, cutting it badly with the propeller. They harpoon it and put it out of its misery, which seems like the humane thing to do, until you read that Cousteau and filmmaker Louis Malle staged the whole thing based on an incident that happened years before. So they DELIBERATELY ran over, harpooned, and shot a baby whale so they could get it on film. Then used the dead whale as bait to lure sharks, who were then pulled aboard and slaughtered in a frenzy of violence. That is a level of animal cruelty that seems psychopathic today.
They also use dynamite in a reef --for science-- in order to collect specimens of all the fish, hack off chunks of coral --for science-- and harass sea turtles --for fun.
If anything, this documentary serves as a reminder of how much conservation efforts and public awareness have changed in sixty years. My mom remembers being shown this in school and thinking how wonderful it would be to live underwater. I couldn't get through it without thinking how Cousteau would be crucified by animal rights activists today. Imagine what will happen in another fifty years.
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