Introduction

Jacques-Yves Cousteau (1910-1997) was a world-famous French oceanographer and film maker, widely known for his groundbreaking documentary television series in the 1970s and 1980s covering his sea explorations. Cousteau’s first major documentary “Le Monde Du Silence” (The Silent World) won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 1956. On his faithful ships the Calypso and the Alcyone Cousteau traveled the globe exploring every sea and ocean, which he documented in many documentary films and television series such as “The Undersea World Of Jacques Cousteau”, “The Jacques Cousteau Odyssey” and “Rediscovery Of The World”.

In 1991 Jacques Cousteau was working on what would turn out to be his final television series, “Rediscovery Of The World II”. While in earlier episodes Cousteau had used some of Vangelis’ album music as a score, this time he asked Vangelis to compose original music, which Vangelis kindly provided for two episodes about Indonesia: “Indonésie: Les Vergers De L’Enfer” (The Devil’s Orchards) and “Sumatra: Le Coeur De La Mer” (The Heart Of The Sea).

In the first episode commander Cousteau aboard the Calypso explores the Krakatoa volcano and Java island, crossing the Flores sea towards Banda island to meet up with Alcyone. In the second episode Cousteau and his team visit Sumatra and its natural inhabitants the orangutans. With their helicopter they visit the nearby island Nias, and meet with the Mantawai people on Siberut island.  

Fortunately the television series and its episodes about Indonesia have been widely made available on VHS and DVD home video. The French DVD release “La Collection Cousteau no.29” is interesting for its audio mix of the 2nd episode about Sumatra, as the French dialogue was mistakenly only mixed to one side of the stereo mix, allowing to hear Vangelis’ score without the dialogue on the other side. The UK DVD release is interesting for viewers outside of France for its English narration.

In 1992 more of Vangelis original music would turn up in the Jacques Cousteau documentary ‘Mirage Of The Sea”.

Details and credits

• Title: L’Indonesie: Les Vergers De L’Enfer
• Title: Sumatra: Le Coeur De La Mer
• Year: 1991
• Country: France
• Length: 48 minutes each episode
• Film by Jacques-Yves Cousteau and Jean-Michel Cousteau.
• Music by Vangelis.
• Assistent producer and editing: Thierry Ragobert.
• Photography by Frederic Labourasse and Louis Prezelin.
• Sub-marine film: Didier Noirot.
• Assistent cameramen: Raymond Amaddio and Jerome Julienne.
• Asissten editing: Pascale Grabias
• Sound by Alain Moscatello.
• Sound editing: Anne Belin
• Mixing: Jean-Paul Loublier
• Production assistant: Anne-Marie Roth
• Photos: Roberto Rinaldi
• Research: François Sarano
• Documentation: Brigitte Vannier
• Produced by Jacques-Yves Cousteau.

Media

DVD

• 2004 La Collection Cousteau no.29 U.M.K Collections 940587-4 France (includes both episodes about Indonesia in original French audio, no subtitles)
• 2007 Jacques Cousteau Rediscover The World Australia, Indonesia And The Danube. Delta 86235 UK (3 DVD boxset including both episodes about Indonesia with English voice-over, no subtitles)

VHS

• 1992 J.Y. Cousteau À La Redécouverte Du Monde, Indonésie: Le Coeur De La Mer. RTBF Video 238 428 Belgium
• Jacques Cousteau Aventura Submarina, Indonesia (I) Los Vergeles Del Infierno (No. 22) S.A.V. Spain
• Jacques Cousteau Aventura Submarina, Indonesia (II) El Córazon Del Mar (No. 23) S.A.V. Spain
• El Mundo Desconocido De Jacques Cousteau, Indonesia: Los Vergeles Del Infierno (No. 15) S.A.V. Spain
• El Mundo Desconocido De Jacques Cousteau, Indonesia: El Córazon Del Mar (No. 28) S.A.V. Spain
• 1996 The Best Of Cousteau, Indonesia The Devil’s Orchards. Time Life Video V706-9 US
• 1996 The Best Of Cousteau, Sumatra The Heart Of The Sea. Time Life Video V706-18 US
• Jacques Cousteau, Indonésia: Os Pomares Do Diablo (Volume 5) Caras 196 Brazil

Links

• Vangeliscollector.com
• IMDB.com "Indonesia: The Devil's Orchards" and "Sumatra:The Heart Of The Sea"
• Youtube.com

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