Jacques Mayol

Acting

Jacques Mayol

Born — Died

1927-04-01 — 2001-12-22

Place of birth

Shanghai, China

Known for

Acting

Credits

9 titles

Jacques Mayol, born April 1, 1927, in Shanghai, China, and died December 22, 2001, in Capoliveri, on the island of Elba, Italy, was a French freediver whose story inspired the film The Big Blue (1988). Jacques Mayol grew up in Shanghai, in the French Concession, where his father was an architect. In the summer, the family would often travel to Karatsu, Japan, via the Shanghai-Nagasaki shipping line. It was there that he learned to dive at the age of six. He was fascinated by the "ama," Japanese freedivers who dived for shellfish. It was also in the Nanatsugama caves that he encountered his first dolphin when he was ten years old. In the late 1930s, Japanese militarism drove Westerners away.…

Known for

Sacrée soirée poster
5.7

No synopsis available yet.

Sacrée soirée

1987

The Big Blue poster
7.4

Childhood friends Jacques and Enzo share a passion for the danger of free diving. Jacques, following in the footsteps of his father, who died at sea when Jacques was a boy, harbors a remarkable ability to adjust his heart rate and breathing patterns in the water, with his vital signs more closely resembling those of dolphins than men.

The Big Blue

1988

Dolphin Man poster
7.8

As well as providing the subject for Luc Besson’s The Big Blue, Jacques Mayol did more than anyone to establish the sport of free diving to enormous depths without an oxygen supply. Using breathing techniques derived from yoga, he went to 50, 60, and even 100 meters—depths no one had considered to be within the bounds of human possibility. Mayol was a sportsman, a mystic, a vagabond, but above all, a man who believed in testing the limits of experience. This visually stunning tribute shows a man’s quest to be at one with the vastness of the ocean and to have no fear of the abyss within, where lurks serenity, freedom and finally, death.

Dolphin Man

2017

The Big Blue Adventure poster
10.0

A behind-the-scenes look at the making of Luc Besson's The Big Blue (Le Grand Bleu), featuring production footage and interviews with Besson, legendary freediver Jacques Mayol, and stars Rosanna Arquette, Jean-Marc Barr, and Jean Reno.

The Big Blue Adventure

1989

Ocean Men, Extreme Dive poster
7.5

For more than 10 years, world champion freedivers Pipin Ferreras and Umberto Pelizzari have been vying for world records. Their love of the sea without compromise is what unites these two rivals. However, it is their different personalities and opposing diving philosophies that separate them. Pipin is the "No Limits" man who wants to go deeper and deeper. Umberto, the purist, seeks harmony in the ocean's depth. Ocean Men takes you into the world of these two awe-inspiring freedivers through the use of breathtaking underwater photography, enchanting music, and insightful animation.

Ocean Men, Extreme Dive

2002

Gaia Symphony poster
10.0

Gaia Symphony is a television series directed by Jin Tatsumura. The series revolves around the Gaia hypothesis. The series has eight episodes. Each episode examines a small number of extraordinary people who somehow relate to the central theme. Some of the people examined are famous people. For example, Jane Goodall and Reinhold Messner. Created originally in the Japanese language, there are English versions available.

Gaia Symphony

1992

Film credits

1980s · 2 titles

Series credits

Behind the camera