My Octopus Teacher

Movie: My Octopus Teacher
Nominated for: Documentary Feature Film
How I watched: Netflix
When I fell asleep: No
When it had me: Octopus Magic!
When it lost me: Not really, but I had questions
What I have to say: 

So here's a movie about a guy that is completely burned out because of the way he over-commits to his work and in order to calm down and reset, he finds a hobby to which he can completely over-commit. That tracks.

There are two characters in the film; man and octopus. Let's talk octopus, first. This film is such an intense study of this one animal and all of its habits and gifts. I was enchanted by the octopus so much! It's ability to change colors, shapes, textures, movement style. It is ever changing and ever learning. It uses discarded shells like armor! I mean, the attention to detail was amazing and we really got a full picture.

I enjoyed the anthropomorphism. The film maker loved and connected with this animal. He feared for her, identified with her and believed her capable of "human" type feelings as well. I thought it was a relief from all of the dry, detached, narration we get in so many nature shows. The added presence of a human who is emotionally invested definitely took this documentary to another level for me.

Now let's talk about the man. I felt all the usual humor responses to watching this man's love affair with the octopus. (I think of Janeane Garofalo's line from The Truth About Cats & Dogs, "It's ok to love your pet, just don't LOVE your pet.") Jokes aside, I think it's hard to see this as anything else. 

I didn't see the octopus as so much of a teacher as the title suggested. She taught him that resilience is possible, but other than that they don't really tell us what he learned. He found himself, he found balance, he reignited his passion for story telling, yes. But I really think he did that through his intense love for her, rather than through her role as a teacher. My Octopus Lover would have been a more apt title, but admittedly a problematic one.

Part of the reset that this man needed was because his marriage was suffering and I kept wondering how his wife and kid felt that he came home from working and decided to spend time every day in the ocean with a new obsession? Were they feeling rejected all over again? Were they happy to see him finding balance? Did they like or not like the 4,000 photos of an octopus that slowly took over the beach house? Eventually we see him connecting with his child, so I'm glad they addressed that. I think I would have enjoyed some interviews with family and friends to testify to the changes in him over this period of time. Did they see the improvements that he felt? Or were those so internal and personal that it didn't impact the other people in his world? Did he just move from one method of avoiding his life to another?

I don't even mean to judge him, but because they brought it up in the documentary, I had these questions. I do not doubt the magic of the experience that he had or the way in which it re-energized his relationship to himself, to his work and to nature. This was a powerful way to nourish his own soul and in theory that will only lead to better choices in all areas of his life.

The questions arose, but I should say that none of this bothered me. If anything, the tension of trying to figure out the human drama, only heightened my investment. This was a very enjoyable and moving story.