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88-437: The film became one of France's most commercially successful films (although an adaptation for US release was a commercial failure in that country). French President Jacques Chirac referred to the film in describing Mayol, after his death in 2001, as an enduring symbol for the "Big Blue" generation. The story was heavily adapted for cinema. In real life, Mayol lived from 1927 to 2001 and Maiorca retired from diving to politics in

176-561: A Neo-Gaullist group, the Rally for the Republic (RPR). Chirac's first tenure as prime minister was also an arguably progressive one, with improvements in both the minimum wage and the social welfare system carried out during the course of his premiership. After his departure from the cabinet, Chirac wanted to gain the leadership of the political right, to gain the French presidency in the future. The RPR

264-536: A "yes" vote in the referendum on the Maastricht Treaty , against the opinion of Pasqua, Séguin and a majority of the RPR voters, who chose to vote "no". While he still was mayor of Paris (since 1977), Chirac went to Abidjan ( Côte d'Ivoire ) where he supported President Houphouët-Boigny (1960–1993), although the latter was being called a "thief" by the local population. Chirac then declared that multipartism

352-501: A Film ( Éric Serra ) and Best Sound in 1989. The film also won France's National Academy of Cinema's Academy Award in 1989. The film was screened out of competition at the 1988 Cannes Film Festival . Andrzej Malinowski 's film poster for The Big Blue received a César Award nomination in 1989 from the French Academy of Arts and Film Techniques . The film was released on DVD on 21 July 2009. A Blu-ray version containing both

440-554: A close friend of the president, and won. As mayor of Paris, Chirac's political influence grew. He held this post until 1995. Chirac supporters point out that, as mayor, he provided programmes to help the elderly, people with disabilities, and single mothers, and introduced the street-cleaning Motocrotte , while providing incentives for businesses to stay in Paris. His opponents contend that he installed " clientelist " policies. In 1978, Chirac attacked Giscard's pro-European policy and made

528-633: A communist cell. In 1950, he signed the Soviet-inspired Stockholm Appeal for the abolition of nuclear weapons – which led him to be questioned when he applied for his first visa to the United States. In 1953, after graduating from the Sciences Po , he attended a non-credit course at Harvard University 's summer school, before entering the École nationale d'administration , which trains France's top civil servants, in 1957. In

616-556: A housewife. His grandparents were all teachers from Sainte-Féréole in Corrèze . His great-grandparents on both sides were peasants in the rural south-western region of the Corrèze . According to Chirac, his name "originates from the langue d'oc , that of the troubadours, therefore that of poetry". He was a Catholic . Chirac was an only child (his elder sister, Jacqueline, died in infancy nearly ten years before his birth). He

704-461: A military intervention against the separatists in the Ouvéa cave , leading to the deaths of 19 militants. He allegedly refused any alliance with Jean-Marie Le Pen 's Front National . Chirac ran against Mitterrand for a second time in the 1988 election . He obtained 20 per cent of the vote in the first round, but lost the second with only 46 per cent. He resigned from the cabinet and the right lost

792-471: A minimum allowable weight. Often, the actual weight of the car is lower, so ballast is used to bring it up to the minimum. The advantage is that the ballast can be positioned to affect the car's handling by changing its load distribution . This is near-universal in Formula 1 . It is also common in other racing series that ballast may only be located in certain positions on the car. In some racing series, for example

880-546: A nationalist turn with the December 1978 Call of Cochin , initiated by his counsellors Marie-France Garaud and Pierre Juillet  [ fr ] , which had first been called by Pompidou. Hospitalised in Hôpital Cochin after a car crash, he declared that "as always about the drooping of France, the pro-foreign party acts with its peaceable and reassuring voice". He appointed Yvan Blot , an intellectual who would later join

968-450: A new French State during World War II and that the Republic had been re-established when the war was over. It was not for France, therefore, to apologise for the roundup of Jews for deportation that happened while the Republic had not existed and was carried out by a state, Vichy France , which it did not recognise. President François Mitterrand had reiterated this position: "The Republic had nothing to do with this. I do not believe France

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1056-433: A pump-supplied air hose and helmet —goes diving. His breathing apparatus and rope gets caught and punctured by rocks, and weighed down by water, he drowns in front of Jacques and Enzo. By the 1980s, both are well known freedivers . In Sicily , Enzo rescues a trapped diver from a shipwreck. He is a world champion freediver and now wishes to find Jacques and persuade him to return to no-limits freediving in order to prove he

1144-462: A rapprochement with NATO by joining the Military Committee and attempting to negotiate a return to the integrated military command , which failed after the French demand for parity with the United States went unmet. The possibility of a further attempt foundered after Chirac was forced into cohabitation with a Socialist-led cabinet between 1997 and 2002, then poor Franco-American relations after

1232-514: A sensuous beauty unlike any other film at the time". The film was slightly edited for US release to have a new, positive ending and the original score was also replaced. The US release was met with above average reviews. The film aggregator, Rotten Tomatoes gave it 62%, based on 21 reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "Though this movie features beautiful cinematography, it drags on, being way too overblown and melodramatic." Kevin Thomas of

1320-505: A year. With its extensive underwater scenes and languid score (as with nearly all of Besson's films, the soundtrack was composed by Éric Serra ), the film has been both praised as beautiful and serene, and in equal measure criticized as being too drawn out, overly reflective and introspective. While popular in Europe , the film was a commercial failure in North America . The American version

1408-404: Is called a ballast tank . Water should be moved in and out from the ballast tank to balance the ship. In a vessel that travels on the water, the ballast will be kept below the water level, to counteract the effects of weight above the water level. The ballast may be redistributed in the vessel or disposed of altogether to change its effects on the movement of the vessel. The basic concept behind

1496-463: Is not, but he says he has to. She announces she is pregnant and begs Jacques to stay. However, she eventually lets him go. The two embrace and Johana breaks down crying. Jacques then places the release cord for the dive ballast in her hand, and—still sobbing—she pulls it, sending him down to the depths. Jacques descends and floats for a moment, staring into the darkness. A dolphin then appears, and Jacques lets go of his harness, swimming away with it into

1584-599: Is responsible," he said in September 1994. Chirac was the first president of France to take responsibility for the deportation of Jews during the Vichy regime. In a speech made on 16 July 1995 at the site of the Vel' d'Hiv Roundup , where 13,000 Jews had been held for deportation to concentration camps in July 1942, Chirac said, "France, on that day, committed the irreparable". Those responsible for

1672-753: Is still the better of the two. Jacques works as a human research subject with dolphins and is participating in research into human physiology in the lakes of the Peruvian Andes , where his bodily responses to cold water immersion are being recorded. Insurance broker Johana Baker visits the station and is introduced to Jacques. After hearing that Jacques will be at the World Diving Championships in Taormina , Sicily, she fabricates an insurance problem that requires her presence there, in order to meet him again. The two start dating. However, none of them realize

1760-523: Is supplemented with Besson's Atlantis documentary on Blu-ray as well. A poster for the film can be seen in the photo studio in the 1992 South Korean film The Moon Is... the Sun's Dream . In 1993 , the Israeli singer Sharon Lifshitz released the song "Ha'ish Me'hayam" (האיש מהים - The Man From The Sea) which was written by Tzruya Lahav and was based on the film. In the 2009 Japanese anime series Eden of

1848-449: Is under the control of Parliament and under the significant influence of the prime minister. Short of dissolving parliament and calling for new elections, the president was left with little power to influence public policy regarding crime, the economy, and public services. Chirac seized the occasion to periodically criticise Jospin's government. His position was weakened by scandals about the financing of RPR by Paris municipality . In 2001,

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1936-591: The Los Angeles Times , praised its cinematography, but warned viewers to "be prepared to want to come up for air only minutes into [the film]", referring to the film's pointless plot. The film sold only 97,817 tickets in its opening week in and around Paris but went on to become one of the most popular French films of all-time in France with admissions of 9.2 million. The Big Blue was nominated for several César Awards and won César Award for Best Music Written for

2024-476: The 1981 election , thus splitting the centre-right vote. He was eliminated in the first round with 18% of the vote. He reluctantly supported Giscard in the second round. He refused to give instructions to the RPR voters but said that he supported the incumbent president "in a private capacity", which was interpreted as almost de facto support of the Socialist Party 's (PS) candidate, François Mitterrand , who

2112-474: The Court of Auditors . In April 1962, Chirac was appointed head of the personal staff of Prime Minister Georges Pompidou . This appointment launched Chirac's political career. Pompidou considered Chirac his protégé , and referred to him as "my bulldozer" for his skill at getting things done. The nickname Le Bulldozer caught on in French political circles, where it also referred to his abrasive manner. As late as

2200-516: The National Front , as director of his campaigns for the 1979 European election . After the poor results of the election, Chirac broke with Garaud and Juillet. Vexed Marie-France Garaud stated: "We thought Chirac was made of the same marble of which statues are carved in, we perceive he's of the same faience bidets are made of." His rivalry with Giscard d'Estaing intensified. Chirac made his first run for president against Giscard d'Estaing in

2288-446: The next legislative election . For the first time, his leadership over the RPR was challenged. Charles Pasqua and Philippe Séguin criticised his abandonment of Gaullist doctrines. On the right, a new generation of politicians, the "renovation men", accused Chirac and Giscard of being responsible for the electoral defeats. In 1992, convinced a candidate could not become president whilst advocating anti-European policies, he called for

2376-466: The sail . Insufficiently ballasted boats will tend to tip, or heel, excessively in high winds. Too much heel may result in the boat capsizing . If a sailing vessel should need to voyage without cargo then ballast of little or no value would be loaded to keep the vessel upright. Some or all of this ballast would then be discarded when cargo was loaded. Ballast weight is also added to a race car to alter its performance. In most racing series, cars have

2464-454: The "Giscardian" and "non-Giscardian" factions of the parliamentary majority. At the age of 41, Chirac stood out as the very model of the jeunes loups ('young wolves') of French politics, but he was faced with the hostility of the "Barons of Gaullism" who considered him a traitor for his role during the previous presidential campaign. In December 1974, he took the lead of the Union of Democrats for

2552-406: The 1980s. Both set no-limits -category deep diving records below 100 metres, and Mayol was indeed involved in scientific research into human aquatic potential, but neither reached 400 feet (120 metres) as portrayed in the film, and they were not direct competitors. Mayol himself was a screenwriter for the film, and Mayol's search for love, family, "wholeness" and the meaning of life and death, and

2640-464: The 1988 presidential election , Chirac maintained this reputation. At Pompidou's suggestion, Chirac ran as a Gaullist for a seat in the National Assembly in 1967. He was elected deputy for his home Corrèze département , a stronghold of the left. This surprising victory in the context of a Gaullist ebb permitted him to enter the government as Minister of Social Affairs . Although Chirac

2728-777: The Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. Elected as President of the Republic, he refused to discuss the existence of French military bases in Africa, despite requests by the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs . The French Army thus remained in Côte d'Ivoire as well as in Omar Bongo 's Gabon. Prior to 1995, the French government had maintained that the French Republic had been dismantled when Philippe Pétain instituted

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2816-576: The East , Akira plays the film in his villa's cinema for Saki, who was a big fan. The title of the episode, "On the Night of the Late Show", is a reference to this scene. Jacques Chirac Jacques René Chirac ( UK : / ˈ ʃ ɪər æ k / , US : / ʒ ɑː k ʃ ɪəˈr ɑː k / ; French: [ʒak ʁəne ʃiʁak] ; 29 November 1932 – 26 September 2019)

2904-531: The French Navy with no aircraft carrier until 2001, when Charles de Gaulle was commissioned. He also reduced expenditure on nuclear weapons and the French nuclear arsenal was reduced to include 350 warheads, compared to the Russian nuclear arsenal of 16,000 warheads. He also published a plan to reduce the number of fighters the French military had by 30. After François Mitterrand left office in 1995, Chirac began

2992-560: The French UN veto threat over Iraq in 2003 made transatlantic negotiations impossible. On 25 July 2000, as Chirac and the first lady were returning from the G7 Summit in Okinawa, Japan, they were placed in a dangerous situation by Air France Flight 4590 after they landed at Charles de Gaulle International Airport. The first couple were in an Air France Boeing 747 taxiing toward the terminal when

3080-580: The RPR/UDF right-wing coalition won a slight majority in the National Assembly in the 1986 election , Mitterrand (PS) appointed Chirac prime minister (though many in Mitterrand's inner circle lobbied him to choose Jacques Chaban-Delmas instead). This unprecedented power-sharing arrangement, known as cohabitation , gave Chirac the lead in domestic affairs. However, it is generally conceded that Mitterrand used

3168-467: The Republic (UDR) against the will of its more senior personalities. As prime minister, Chirac quickly set about persuading the Gaullists that, despite the social reforms proposed by President Giscard, the basic tenets of Gaullism, such as national and European independence, would be retained. Chirac was advised by Pierre Juillet and Marie-France Garaud , two former advisers of Pompidou. These two organised

3256-754: The Republic , Chirac's party, on 12 October 2000, declaring to the magazine Le Figaro on 18 November 2000: "Jacques Chirac is not my friend anymore". After the publication of the Jean-Claude Méry by Le Monde on 22 September 2000, in which Jean-Claude Méry, in charge of the RPR's financing, directly accused Chirac of organising the network, and of having been physically present on 5 October 1986, when Méry gave in cash 5 million Francs , which came from companies who had benefited from state deals, to Michel Roussin , personal secretary ( directeur de cabinet ) of Chirac, Chirac refused to attend court in response to his summons by judge Eric Halphen , and

3344-473: The United States used rubble as ballast. The ballast would be dumped in New York and used for construction projects such as FDR Drive and an outcrop colloquially named Bristol Basin since it was made from rubble from bombed-out Bristol . Ballast takes many forms, for example: Sailing ballast is used in sailboats to provide righting moment to resist the overturning moment generated by lateral forces on

3432-527: The United States, Chirac worked at Anheuser-Busch in St. Louis, Missouri . Chirac trained as a reserve military officer in armoured cavalry at Saumur . He then volunteered to fight in the Algerian War , using personal connections to be sent despite the reservations of his superiors. His superiors did not want to make him an officer because they suspected he had communist leanings. In 1965, he became an auditor in

3520-557: The areas granted to the President of the Republic, or "reserved domains" of the Presidency, Defence and Foreign Affairs, to belittle his prime minister. Chirac's cabinet sold many public companies , renewing the liberalisation initiated under Laurent Fabius 's Socialist government of 1984–1986, and abolished the solidarity tax on wealth (ISF), a symbolic tax on those with high value assets introduced by Mitterrand's government. Elsewhere,

3608-399: The ballast contrary to orders, in the belief that the pumps would take care of it." In the nineteenth century, cargo boats returning from Europe to North America would carry quarried stone as ballast, contributing to the architectural heritage of some east coast cities (for example Montreal ), where this stone was used in building. During World War 2 ships returning from Great Britain to

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3696-408: The ballast tank can be seen in many forms of aquatic life, such as the blowfish or members of the argonaut group of octopus . The concept has been invented and reinvented many times by humans to serve a variety of purposes. In the fifteenth and sixteenth century, the ballast "did not consist entirely of leakage, but of urine, vomit, and various foul food leavings that lazy sailors discharged into

3784-458: The campaign against Chaban-Delmas in 1974. They advocated a clash with Giscard d'Estaing because they thought his policy bewildered the conservative electorate. Citing Giscard's unwillingness to give him authority, Chirac resigned as prime minister in 1976. He proceeded to build up his political base among France's several conservative parties, with a goal of reconstituting the Gaullist UDR into

3872-451: The conflict and tension between his yearning for the deep and his relationship with his girlfriend are also major elements of the latter part of the film. Two children, Jacques Mayol and Enzo Molinari, grow up on the Greek island of Amorgos in the 1960s. Enzo challenges Jacques to collect a coin on the sea floor but Jacques refuses. Jacques' father—who harvests shellfish from the seabed using

3960-604: The darkness. The original ending was intentionally ambiguous, though considering the depth Jacques has swum to, it would seem he is unlikely to regain the surface alive. In the American adaptation, the ending is extended with an additional scene: after swimming away with the dolphin, Jacques is returned to the surface. The film was heavily fictionalized. In real life, Jacques Mayol and Enzo Maiorca were indeed champions and contemporaries. However, they did not directly compete, neither reached 400 feet, and neither died while diving. Mayol

4048-472: The decision to "promulgate without applying" the First Employment Contract (CPE) after large student demonstrations against it). One of his first acts concerning foreign policy was to call back Jacques Foccart (1913–1997), who had been de Gaulle's and his successors' leading counsellor for African matters, called by journalist Stephen Smith the "father of all "networks" on the continent, at

4136-422: The depths. Jacques—himself suffering from cardiac arrest after the dive—is rescued by supervising scuba divers and requires his heart to be restarted with a defibrillator before being placed in medical quarters to recover. Jacques appears to be recovering from the diving accident but later experiences a hallucinatory dream in which the ceiling collapses and the room fills with water, and he finds himself in

4224-484: The disapproval of the "Pompidolians". Chirac and others published the call of the 43 in favour of Giscard d'Estaing, the leader of the non-Gaullist part of the parliamentary majority. Giscard d'Estaing was elected as Pompidou's successor after France's most competitive election campaign in years. In return, the new president chose Chirac to lead the cabinet. When Valéry Giscard d'Estaing became president, he nominated Chirac as prime minister on 27 May 1974, to reconcile

4312-441: The dive anyway but is unable to return to the surface. Jacques dives to rescue him. Enzo, dying, tells Jacques that he was right and that it is better down there. He begs Jacques to help him back down to the depths, where he belongs. Distraught, Jacques refuses, and Enzo dies in his arms. To honor his dying wish, Jacques takes Enzo's body back down to a depth where the human body becomes negatively buoyant, and lets his friend sink into

4400-602: The economic policy of the Socialist government, he gradually aligned himself with prevailing economically liberal opinion, even though it did not correspond with Gaullist doctrine. While the far-right National Front grew, taking advantage of the proportional representation electoral system which had been introduced for the 1986 legislative elections , he signed an electoral pact with the Giscardian (and more or less Christian Democratic) party Union for French Democracy (UDF). When

4488-531: The extended and theatrical versions was released on September 14, 2009, in the United Kingdom, but this contains French-dubbed versions of both cuts, rather than the original English language. This was later corrected and the second release contained a LPCM 2.0 English soundtrack and a DTS 2.0 French dub. The French Blu-ray release contains only the Director's Cut of the film but with a French DTS-MA 5.1 soundtrack and

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4576-417: The extent of Jacques' allurement with the depths. Jacques beats Enzo by 1 metre, and Enzo offers him a crystal dolphin as a gift, and a tape measure to show the small difference between their respective records. Johana goes back home to New York but is fired after her deception is discovered; she leaves New York and begins to live with Jacques. She hears the story that mermaids appear to the ones who truly love

4664-540: The film was shot on the Greek island of Amorgos , where Agia Anna and the monastery of Panagia Hozoviotissa can be seen. The film was dedicated to his daughter Juliette Besson, who required surgery after becoming ill during filming. The film was met with positive reviews in Europe, where it was described as "one of the most significant cult movies of the 1980s" by French Cinema historian Rémi Lanzoni, who described it as "ooz[ing] with

4752-583: The first round (20.8 per cent), and then defeated the Socialist candidate Lionel Jospin in the second round (52.6 per cent). Chirac was elected on a platform of tax cuts and job programmes, but his policies did little to ease the labour strikes during his first months in office. On the domestic front, neo-liberal economic austerity measures introduced by Chirac and his conservative prime minister Alain Juppé , including budgetary cutbacks, proved highly unpopular. At about

4840-520: The highest echelons of the French justice system declared that he could not be inculpated while in office. During his two terms, he increased the Elysee Palace's total budget by 105 per cent (to €90 million, whereas 20 years before it was the equivalent of €43.7 million). He doubled the number of presidential cars – to 61 cars and seven scooters in the Palace's garage. He hired 145 extra employees –

4928-479: The interior . In 1981 and 1988 , he unsuccessfully ran for president as the standard-bearer for the conservative Gaullist party Rally for the Republic (RPR). Chirac's internal policies initially included lower tax rates, the removal of price controls , strong punishment for crime and terrorism, and business privatisation . After pursuing these policies in his second term as prime minister, Chirac changed his views. He argued for different economic policies and

5016-528: The jet had to stop and wait for Flight 4590 to take off. The departing plane, an Aérospatiale-BAC Concorde , ran over a strip of metal on takeoff puncturing its left fuel tank and sliced electrical wires near the left landing gear. The sequence of events ignited a large fire and caused the Concorde to veer left on its takeoff roll. As it reached takeoff speed and lifted off the ground, it came within 30 feet of hitting Chirac's 747. The photograph of Flight 4590 ablaze,

5104-441: The last president to be re-elected until 2022 . In 2011, the Paris court declared Chirac guilty of diverting public funds and abusing public confidence, giving him a two-year suspended prison sentence . Jacques René Chirac was born on 29 November 1932 in the 5th arrondissement of Paris . He was the son of Abel François Marie Chirac (1898–1968), a successful executive for an aircraft company, and Marie-Louise Valette (1902–1973),

5192-588: The left, represented by Bertrand Delanoë (PS), won a majority on the city council of the capital. Jean Tiberi , Chirac's successor at the Paris city hall, was forced to resign after having been put under investigations in June 1999 on charges of trafic d'influences in the HLMs of Paris affairs (related to the illegal financing of the RPR). Tiberi was finally expelled from the Rally for

5280-399: The main role of Mayol. He initially offered the role to Christopher Lambert and Mickey Rourke and even considered himself for the role until someone suggested Jean-Marc Barr. Besson has a cameo appearance as one of the divers in the film. The Big Blue was the most financially successful French film of the 1980s, selling 9,193,873 tickets in France alone, and played in French theaters for

5368-570: The ministry of economy and finance. After some months in the ministry for Relations with Parliament, Chirac's first high-level post came in 1972 when he became Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development under Pompidou, who had been elected president in 1969, after de Gaulle retired. Chirac quickly earned a reputation as a champion of French farmers' interests, and first attracted international attention when he assailed U.S., West German , and European Commission agricultural policies which conflicted with French interests. On 27 February 1974, after

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5456-405: The ocean depths with dolphins. After discovering she is pregnant, Johana returns to check up on Jacques but finds him lying unresponsive in his bed with bloody ears and a bloody nose. Johana attempts to help him, but Jacques gets up and walks to the diving boat and gets suited up for one final dive. Desperately, Johana begs Jacques not to go, saying she is alive but whatever has happened at the depths

5544-458: The only picture taken of the Concorde on fire, was taken by passenger Toshihiko Sato on Chirac's jetliner. Ballast Ballast is dense material used as a weight to provide stability to a vehicle or structure. Ballast, other than cargo , may be placed in a vehicle, often a ship or the gondola of a balloon or airship , to provide stability . A compartment within a boat, ship, submarine , or other floating structure that holds water

5632-417: The plan for university reform (plan Devaquet ) caused a crisis in 1986 when a student called Malik Oussekine was killed by the police, leading to massive demonstrations and the proposal's withdrawal. It has been said during other student crises that this event strongly affected Jacques Chirac, who was afterwards careful about possible police violence during such demonstrations (e.g., maybe explaining part of

5720-492: The presidency against Chirac in 1995. However, benefiting from positive polls, Balladur decided to be a presidential candidate, with the support of a majority of right-wing politicians. Balladur broke from Chirac along with a number of friends and allies, including Charles Pasqua, Nicolas Sarkozy , etc., who supported his candidacy. A small group of fidels would remain with Chirac, including Alain Juppé and Jean-Louis Debré . When Nicolas Sarkozy became president in 2007, Juppé

5808-468: The relationship between the two men became tense, with Giscard, even though he had been in the same government coalition as Chirac, criticising Chirac's actions openly. After the May 1981 presidential election, the right also lost the subsequent legislative election that year. However, as Giscard had been knocked out, Chirac appeared as the principal leader of the right-wing opposition. Due to his attacks against

5896-679: The resignation of Raymond Marcellin , Chirac was appointed Minister of the Interior . On 21 March 1974, he cancelled the SAFARI project due to privacy concerns after its existence was revealed by Le Monde . From March 1974, he was entrusted by President Pompidou with preparations for the presidential election then scheduled for 1976. These elections were moved forward because of Pompidou's sudden death on 2 April 1974. Chirac vainly attempted to rally Gaullists behind Prime Minister Pierre Messmer . Jacques Chaban-Delmas announced his candidacy in spite of

5984-561: The resumption of nuclear tests at Mururoa Atoll in French Polynesia in 1995, a few months before signing the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty . Reacting to criticism, Chirac said, "You only have to look back at 1935...There were people then who were against France arming itself, and look what happened." On 1 February 1996, Chirac announced that France had ended "once and for all" its nuclear testing and intended to accede to

6072-529: The roundup were "4,500 policemen and gendarmes, French, under the authority of their leaders [who] obeyed the demands of the Nazis. ... the criminal folly of the occupiers was seconded by the French, by the French State". In 1997, Chirac dissolved parliament for early legislative elections in a gamble designed to bolster support for his conservative economic program. But instead, it created an uproar, and his power

6160-616: The same time, it became apparent that Juppé and others had obtained preferential conditions for public housing, as well as other perks. At the year's end Chirac faced major workers' strikes which turned, in November–December 1995, into a general strike , one of the largest since May 1968. The demonstrations were largely pitted against Juppé's plan for pension reform, and ultimately led to his dismissal. Shortly after taking office, Chirac – undaunted by international protests by environmental groups – insisted upon

6248-409: The sea and lead them to an enchanted place. At the next World Diving Championships, Enzo beats Jacques' record. The depths at which the divers compete enter new territory, and the dive doctor suggests they should stop, to no avail. Jacques is asked to look at a dolphinarium where a new dolphin has been placed, and where the dolphins are no longer performing; surmising that the new dolphin is homesick,

6336-534: The sport for over a decade between 1974 and 1986 after an outburst on TV cost him a competition ban. He entered politics in the 1990s, and became a member of the Italian Senate for a time. For many years, he resisted public showing of the film in Italy, as he considered it to caricature him poorly; after Mayol's death in 2001, he relented and accepted the showing of the film. Besson was initially unsure of whom to cast in

6424-420: The three of them break in at night to liberate and return her to the sea. Back at the competition, other divers attempt to break Enzo's world record, but each fails. Jacques succeeds, reaching 400 feet (120 m). Angered by this, Enzo prepares to break Jacques' record. The doctor warns that the competitors must not go deeper, as the pressure becomes lethal at those depths. Enzo dismisses the doctor and attempts

6512-701: The time [in 1986] aged 72." Foccart, who had also co-founded the Gaullist SAC militia (dissolved by Mitterrand in 1982 after the Auriol massacre ) along with Charles Pasqua , and who was a key component of the Françafrique system, was again called to the Elysée Palace when Chirac won the 1995 presidential election. Furthermore, confronted by anti-colonialist movements in New Caledonia , Prime Minister Chirac ordered

6600-485: The total number of the people he employed simultaneously was 963. As the Supreme Commander of the French armed forces, he reduced the military budget, as did his predecessor. At the end of his first term it accounted for three per cent of GDP. In 1997 the aircraft carrier Clemenceau was decommissioned after 37 years of service, with her sister ship Foch decommissioned in 2000 after 37 years of service, leaving

6688-399: Was a "kind of luxury". Nevertheless, the right won the 1993 legislative election . Chirac announced that he did not want to come back as prime minister as his previous term had ended with his unsuccessful run for the presidency against Mitterrand who was still president at this point. Chirac instead suggested the appointment of Edouard Balladur , who had promised that he would not run for

6776-458: Was a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. He was previously Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and 1986 to 1988, as well as Mayor of Paris from 1977 to 1995. After attending the École nationale d'administration , Chirac began his career as a high-level civil servant , entering politics shortly thereafter. Chirac occupied various senior positions, including minister of agriculture and minister of

6864-490: Was conceived as an electoral machine against President Giscard d'Estaing. Paradoxically, Chirac benefited from Giscard's decision to create the office of mayor in Paris, which had been in abeyance since the 1871 Commune , because the leaders of the Third Republic (1871–1940) feared that having municipal control of the capital would give the mayor too much power. In 1977, Chirac stood as a candidate against Michel d'Ornano ,

6952-593: Was educated in Paris at the Cours Hattemer , a private school. He then attended the Lycée Carnot and the Lycée Louis-le-Grand . After his baccalauréat , behind his father's back he went off to serve for three months as a sailor on a coal-transport. Chirac played rugby union for Brive 's youth team, and also played at university level. He played no. 8 and second row . At age 18, his ambition

7040-498: Was elected by a broad majority. Giscard has always blamed Chirac for his defeat. He was told by Mitterrand, before his death, that the latter had dined with Chirac before the election. Chirac told the Socialist candidate that he wanted to "get rid of Giscard". In his memoirs, Giscard wrote that between the two rounds, he phoned the RPR headquarters. He passed himself off, as a right-wing voter, by changing his voice. The RPR employee advised him "certainly do not vote Giscard!" After 1981,

7128-496: Was elected president in 1995 , with 52.6% of the vote in the second round, beating Socialist Lionel Jospin , after campaigning on a platform of healing the "social rift" ( fracture sociale ). Chirac's economic policies, based on dirigisme , allowing for state-directed investment, stood in opposition to the laissez-faire policies of the United Kingdom under the ministries of Margaret Thatcher and John Major , which Chirac described as "Anglo-Saxon ultraliberalism ". Chirac

7216-494: Was indeed involved in scientific research into human aquatic potential, and was fascinated by dolphins, and was recorded as having a heartbeat that slowed from 60 to 27 beats per minute when diving. He held numerous world records , including dives to below 100 metres. After a bout of depression, he killed himself in 2001, long after the film's release. Maiorca (renamed as "Enzo Molinari" in the film) also set numerous depth records from 1960 to 1988, despite involuntarily retiring from

7304-455: Was known for his stand against the American-led invasion of Iraq , his recognition of the collaborationist French government 's role in deporting Jews , and his reduction of the presidential term from seven years to five through a referendum in 2000 . At the 2002 presidential election , he won 82.2% of the vote in the second round against the far-right candidate, Jean-Marie Le Pen , and was

7392-491: Was one of the few chiraquiens to serve in François Fillon's government. During the 1995 presidential campaign , Chirac criticised the "sole thought" ( pensée unique ) of neoliberalism represented by his challenger on the right and promised to reduce the "social fracture", placing himself more to the centre and thus forcing Balladur to radicalise himself. Ultimately, he obtained more votes than Balladur in

7480-470: Was recut to include a simplified "happy" ending, and Serra's score was replaced with a soundtrack composed by Bill Conti . This version was only available on VHS and LaserDisc in the United States (both with 4×3 pan-and-scan transfers) and is currently out of print . The director later released a longer director's cut on DVD , featuring the original ending and an extended version of the Serra score. Much of

7568-498: Was to become a ship's captain. At age 16, Chirac wanted to learn Sanskrit and found a White Russian Sanskrit teacher in Paris who ended up teaching him Russian; by age 17 Chirac was almost fluent in Russian. Inspired by Charles de Gaulle , Chirac started to pursue a civil service career in the 1950s. During this period, he joined the French Communist Party , sold copies of L'Humanité , and took part in meetings of

7656-479: Was weakened by the subsequent backlash. The Socialist Party (PS), joined by other parties on the left , soundly defeated Chirac's conservative allies, forcing Chirac into a new period of cohabitation with Jospin as prime minister (1997–2002), which lasted five years. Cohabitation significantly weakened the power of Chirac's presidency. The French president, by a constitutional convention , only controls foreign and military policy— and even then, allocation of funding

7744-514: Was well-situated in de Gaulle's entourage, being related by marriage to the general's sole companion at the time of the Appeal of 18 June 1940, he was more of a "Pompidolian" than a "Gaullist". When student and worker unrest rocked France in May 1968 , Chirac played a central role in negotiating a truce. Then, as state secretary of economy (1968–1971), he worked closely with Valéry Giscard d'Estaing , who headed

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