…………………………………………………

The Sea Around Us Movie Review

The Sea Around Us is a 1953 documentary film director by Irwin Allen. It’s a somewhat dated, but very well made and solid doc.

This Oscar-winning project investigates everything under the sea – from sharks, whales and octopuses to microscopic creatures and their coexistence in this vast underwater world. It’s interesting how the Academy would honor so many of these nature documentaries back in the fifties while nowadays those are very rarely recognized. As a big biology enthusiast, I love watching these movies no matter their quality.

………………………………………………….

…………………………………………………..

This one is a solid doc. It’s nothing particularly remarkable or groundbreaking, but it was pretty dazzling for the time. The photography must have been fascinating to witness in 1953. The highlight for me was the section that focused on microscopic life underwater. It was gorgeous, informative and very engaging.

The underwater scenes worked for me and I was intrigued by the imagery and the explanations by the narrator. The narration was overall fine, but it ended up being a bit too preachy toward the end. This film became worse and worse toward its conclusion that was overly religious in its tone, not particularly fitting for this subject.

The Sea Around Us did call for the protection of nature, which was revolutionary for the time. I appreciated that quite a bit. But there is a childish tone to the whole film that makes it a bit dated today. It lacks the seriousness and elegance of modern documentaries, but it does have a lot of charm and historical authenticity. I am glad that it won the Oscar, but I wouldn’t call it the best of the winning documentaries from the fifties, not by a long shot.

………………………………………………….