For some of us, the dizziness of these times has us feeling disconnected from our natural world. Perhaps that’s why, in a need to escape from life on land, audiences are diving into the new documentary My Octopus Teacher (now streaming on Netflix).
My Octopus Teacher follows South African documentarian Craig Foster. After spending a career photographing wildlife and seemingly losing touch with the modern world, he leaves it all behind and takes up a new hobby: diving off of the South African coast. In the process, he discovers the presence of a female octopus–who he pursues and documents each day. Over time, she encourages him to think of life’s bigger questions and lessons.
Comprised of just one character (well, two, if you count a certain tentacled co-star), we follow Craig singularly, which makes for an incredibly personal, diary-like experience. His solemnly spoken interviews are intercut with footage of him swimming alongside an ever-growing octopus (footage that he shot himself). All things combined, it’s a very soothing watch: his peaceful and easily meditative speech makes for a calming narration of his underwater adventures.
Through Craig’s journey, I was certainly able to feel a reconnection to nature (and I work on computers all day long). Even though the experience is a second-hand one, seeing Craig’s footage is really quite transporting. Although he dives with a snorkel (meaning he’s without an air tank, and therefore is unable to explore the ocean’s deepest depths), his coastal dives capture a brilliantly colorful aquatic world that is amazing to behold. You won’t need a scuba suit or diving license in order to be taken away to a whole other world.
I find it quite funny that during the most technologically-advanced time in history, we’re turning for answers from silent ocean-dwellers (although its intelligence may rival our own–octopi have a brain in each of its eight tentacles!). My Octopus Teacher rings so powerfully at a time when some of our highest elected officials reveal a remorseless hypocrisy in the human spirit, that we re-direct our efforts to find answers to life’s questions with one of life’s most prehistoric creatures. But, be warned: like any nature documentary, you should prepare to see nature showing its less heartwarming side, in which the circle of life should be experienced without attachment.
I’m actually not sure what My Octopus Teacher left behind, in terms of the greatest lesson that Craig–or I–learned. But perhaps that’s something that can only be answered by each one of us that watches it, as long as we look to take the plunge for the chance at finding peace with an eight-legged friend.
85 min. ‘My Octopus Teacher’ is now streaming on Netflix.
