My Octopus Teacher recently won the Best Documentary category at the Academy Awards, which may be a huge surprise for many. This story of a man and his unlikely friendship with an octopus in the cold ocean off Cape Town, South Africa triumphed over other heavy hitters this year like Alexander Nanau's Collective, a shocking exposé of needless deaths in Romania; Time, a film about a wife fighting for the release of her husband who was jailed for 60 years; or Crip Camp, an Obama-produced story about the battle for disability rights in the US. But for whatever reason, My Octopus Teacher was seen by critics as the type of underdog story the Oscars love. However, was the film really that great? Well, not really.
The documentary was directed by Pippa Ehrlich and James Reed who has made a number of underwater documentaries before such as Jago: A Life Underwater (2015) and Animal Impossible (2020) to name a few. However, what sets My Octopus Teacher apart from other documentaries out there is probably the way the story was told and its editing style. The plot point and narration almost felt like we were watching a movie rather than a normal documentary.
The documentary is presented from the perspective of this 50-ish South African filmmaker and naturalist Craig Foster who is dealing with a midlife crisis and has come to a point in life where he is no longer able to pick up the camera. He's kind of worked himself into a stupor and he's not doing well with his family either. So, he decides to reside in his childhood town, a remote location in False Bay, near Cape Town. There, Foster meets an octopus while diving one day. He becomes fascinated by this underwater creature and makes an effort to come back every day for a year in order to learn more about the unique life of his new friend and also to reflect on his own life.
The film is very well shot and the cinematography is fantastic and stunning. The underwater filming technique was top-notch and I really feel lucky to be living in a world where technology allows us to further explore the far reaches of Earth and our oceans. So, the documentary really gives you a bit of understanding of the adventure that lurks beneath the surface of our oceans. The focus on the animal's life is entertaining and formative. You will be amazed by the intelligence of this creature and will understand more about why people think that octopuses are aliens because of their intelligence and what they are able to do such as their camouflage abilities and their fascinating hunting and survival instincts. There are some legitimately tense moments in this movie like when pyjama sharks are after the octopus every now and then and we get to see how it survives in these situations and how the filmmaker uses it to inject life and drama into the proceedings.
My Octopus Teacher. NETFLIX
While I think the sections on the octopus are good, the main problem of this documentary is the narration and how Foster makes everything in this animal's life about him, which I found to be pretty self-indulgent and narcissistic. All throughout the film, he tries to draw a metaphor for everything in his own life against the natural world of the octopus.
So, for example, early in the film, Foster talks about having tough times with his wife and son -- for which the reason is never provided -- but we are told that he wants to spend more time with his son and be there for him and how the octopus taught him to feel the love for his family again. Also, we as the audience have to see him spend a long time in the ocean so it's like you're not doing a lot of parenting if you're spending this much time out there stalking this octopus. The film didn't really dive into Foster's issues with his family so all of this is very superficial and I couldn't feel his transformation.
At one point halfway through the documentary, the octopus gets one of its eight arms partially eaten by a shark. So of course, Foster's talks about how traumatic this is like "I can't help but feel how part of my arm got chopped off too". No dude, you've still got both your arms. You're just obsessed with the poor creature so don't try to make everything about you.
However, this did explain my curiosity about the film's title in the first place. She's "My Octopus Teacher", and not here to teach anybody else. She's my private tutor to teach me to learn life lessons amid my midlife crisis. Foster was a little dramatic and truly seems to only care about the octopus in regards to his own life purpose. However, I don't doubt that Foster is lying to us. I think that the octopus probably really had an effect on him but I don't think the film makes the connection very well. So, as a nature documentary, this film is like an A-plus and as a personal story, it's probably a D minus. In regard to its recent Oscars honour, especially compared to the other films that were nominated that feel more important in some way, it feels they are trying to highlight something about the world that really needs to be seen for something that's so slight and trivial so it may have picked up this award. It's such a missed opportunity for me.
Nevertheless, this documentary should hopefully raise sensitivity and awareness towards these beautiful and intelligent creatures and why they should be protected in the same way we care for dolphins. Also, while locking away at home, this is a nice escapism watch. It's an easy watch and appealing enough for all types of viewers that if you're normally not really into documentaries, I think this might be one that twists your mind to become more interested in this kind of film.
My Octopus Teacher. Photos © NETFLIX
