Released on September 7 on Netflix, The Wisdom of the Octopus won the Oscar for Best Documentary Film at the last ceremony. Directed by Pippa Ehrlich and James Reed, the feature film tells the story of the unprecedented and incongruous encounter between a diver in the grip of depression, and a small octopus who lives not far from his home. Much more than a documentary film, The Wisdom of the Octopus is a profoundly humanist work.
The Wisdom of the Octopus: a terribly touching work
If we talk about The Wisdom of the Octopus again, it's because the film didn't steal its Oscar for Best Documentary. The film depicts an exceptional encounter between a diver and a mysterious octopus. Much more than a documentary, the work is a powerful look at our purpose in life, our society, and the nature that surrounds us. More than a simple study of the mollusc, it is also and above all a psychological therapy through nature and the animal world. 
The Wisdom of the Octopus does not tell the story of an octopus, but that of a diver who feels lost. That of Craig Foster, former director of wildlife documentary, who lets himself go into a deep depression. This is the story of this man who will find his salvation in the ocean, via his encounter with an octopus. An ephemeral cross between two species that will have a cathartic effect on the diver. Much more than a wildlife documentary, it is a behaviorist study of the human being facing his doubts and demons.
A deeply human film
Already, The Wisdom of the Octopus is a superb dive into the marine environment. The photography is magnificent, the staging precise, and the soundtrack would make the most insensitive of human beings cry. All the ingredients are gathered for an initiatory and purifying journey, but above all terribly touching. Because yes, this relationship between this man and this octopus is deeply touching, and shares a continuous flow of emotions hallucinating. Spectators sensitive to the animal world will by no means remain marble in the face of this unusual and yet impressive adventure. 
Craig Foster highlights the intelligence of this "inferior" species, capable of understanding, feeling, and visibly showing emotion. The Wisdom of the Octopus is full of truly hallucinating sequences on the daily life of the octopus and its abilities so little highlighted. And the rare passages of physical contact are insanely powerful.
The return to nature
Much more than a simple documentary, The Wisdom of the Octopus recalls the benefits of nature, animals, and the importance of living in harmony with them. Craig Foster reminds us how living in the wilderness is beneficial for the psyche of a human being, for his well-being, allowing him to learn, to move forward, to understand himself. The Wisdom of the Octopus is an incredibly liberating and purifying work, which advocates the return to simplicity, to a pure and sublime nature, which must help the human being to get out of his mental and material prisons. 
Finally, Craig Foster raises the question of inheritance. Through his son he asks simple questions: what are we going to leave to future generations? Without ever falling into pathos, and using the prism of the octopus, as a fragile and ephemeral entity, he tries to remind Man of his place in the universe. Like any being, he is only passing through, and his vulnerability is hardly less pronounced than that of the mollusc, hero of this story. To summarize in one sentence, The Wisdom of the Octopus is the magnificent story of an octopus who saves a man! https://youtu.be/3s0LTDhqe5A
