Atlantis is a marine opera.<BR>&nbsp;

Atlantis is a marine opera.

Luc Besson is best known for thrillers and sci-fi films, but he obviously loves the sea - I never quite understood why people go crazy for his third feature, The Big Blue - which is adored in France - but Atlantis, which was begun immeadiately after that, filmed over three years and completed in 1991, is clearly a labour of love. This is an underwater opera, entirely filmed below the surface of the world`s oceans. It`s a series of episodes featuring the fish and creatures who live in this \"world of silence\" (the name of the other great underwater documentary by Jacques Cousteau and Louis Malle) - except that here Besson inventively matches his sea creatures to pieces of music. The film`s also a protest against the abuse of the seas by human beings - most of the species seen here are endangered.Atlantis may not be to everyone`s taste, but the world into which Besson takes us is both beautiful and eerie, dangerous and exotic - and the amazing work of the cameramen deserves nothing but praise.