{"id":44247,"date":"2019-02-17T13:29:04","date_gmt":"2019-02-17T21:29:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/?p=44247"},"modified":"2019-02-18T07:56:22","modified_gmt":"2019-02-18T15:56:22","slug":"diving-deep-the-life-and-times-of-mike-degruy-mimi-degruy-2019-usa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/?p=44247","title":{"rendered":"Diving Deep: The Life and Times of Mike deGruy (Mimi deGruy, 2019): USA"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Reviewed by Gloria Kaye.\u00a0Viewed at the 2019 Santa Barbara International Film Festival<\/p>\n

This cinematic epic explores the underworld of the ocean and the many challenges facing the present and future of our oceans.\u00a0 Skillfully executed, the director Mimi deGruy takes\u00a0us into the life of her deceased activist husband, Michael deGruy.\u00a0 We see his exuberance for life and the despair at the devastation following an oil spill in the very waters he knew as a child.<\/p>\n

Michael has been described as an explanation mark. He was full of life and inventive in his explorations.\u00a0 For instance, one sequence showed the devouring of seals by an Orcas whale. Mike wanted to mingle with the seals while they were at the waterline.\u00a0 To disguise himself he lathered himself with seal dung and\u00a0crept through the pod of seals.\u00a0 He was cautioned that this was dangerous, but Mike was a daredevil who thrived by living on the edge.<\/p>\n

Although the quality of the soundtrack was flawed, it significantly added to the story.\u00a0 When the action of the underwater creatures was aggressive, the music was fast-paced, while the dream- like sequences of underwater sea creatures was matched with slower, soothing music.<\/p>\n

The many interviews with family, friends, and colleagues worked well and was interspersed with still photos and old video clips.\u00a0 Mike was a driven man and even as a youngster was highly competitive and determined.<\/p>\n

Overcoming his horrific shark attack was another example of his heroism and determination.\u00a0 Hospitalized for six weeks, he had many skin grafts including a graft from his buttocks.\u00a0 His scarred arm was eventually healed and he rejected any intervention to address the scarring.\u00a0 It was as if the scarred arm was his, and rightly so, badge of honor.<\/p>\n

A very touching aspect of the film was the relationship he had with his wife.\u00a0 They met as colleagues and continued their collaborations throughout his lifetime.\u00a0 Toward the end of the film Mimi briefly mentioned Mike\u2019s depression, and his concern over his 60-year-old aging body.\u00a0 His depression lifted when he was asked by James Cameron to participate in an underwater dive with a submarine.\u00a0 He met his death in a helicopter crash\u00a0while awaiting participation in the dive. His shocking\u00a0end was a loss to all.<\/p>\n

In retrospect, his sudden death was a blessing for him.\u00a0 His zest for life was diminishing and although he was revived by the invitation to participate in the submarine dive.\u00a0 Would there continue to be adrenaline spiking challenges for him, or would his depression become the norm for him?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reviewed by Gloria Kaye.\u00a0Viewed at the 2019 Santa Barbara International Film Festival This cinematic epic explores the underworld of the ocean and the many challenges facing the present and future of our oceans.\u00a0 Skillfully executed, the director Mimi deGruy takes\u00a0us into the life of her deceased activist husband, Michael deGruy.\u00a0 We see his exuberance for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":247008,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[193,75,3,337],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44247","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-creative","category-documentary","category-films","category-santa-barbara-film-festival-2019"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44247","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/247008"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=44247"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44247\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44249,"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44247\/revisions\/44249"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=44247"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=44247"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=44247"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}