Unfortunately, cinema has given sharks a very bad image.
In the weekly ranking of the most watched on Netflix, series or movies usually appear that we didn’t even have on our radar, but that for some reason begin to have massive success around the world, becoming a trend. Such is the case of In the depths of the SeineFrench film starring Bernice Bejo and directed by Xavier Gens.
Sous la Seine, titled in its original language, transports us to the heart of Paris, in the summer of 2024. Parisians will host for the first time the annual World Triathlon Championships, a swimming competition on the legendary Seine River. However, plans are about to change when environmental activist Mika notices a strange disturbance in the river, alerting scientist Sophia that a large shark is swimming in the depths of the Seine River. As we will all have to imagine, terror invades society, making competition become a fight for survival.
Since Steven Spielberg’s Jaws, we have had a large number of horror and suspense films in which these marine species have been portrayed as ruthless and bloodthirsty creatures, when the reality is very different. For example, the founder of the Phocéen Shark Study Group, Nicolas Ziani, a specialist in marine ichthyology, assured that the premise of the film is simply and simply scandalous: “It is a shame. It is a cognitive apocalypse. It’s almost fake news. We are importing a problem that never existed in France. Megalodonwith Jason Stathamit’s almost more coherent.”
The expert confirms that there are euryhaline species, which tolerate variations in salt water and different temperatures, such as the bull shark, and that only occasionally can attack humans: “The great white shark is an extremely sensitive species: it would not survive two days in the waters of the Seine, not even without pollution. This film gives an image of catastrophism that borders on dementia. It has no scientific credibility, even if it surrounds its topic with a vague ecological message, almost on the order of propaganda.”
“The danger of sharks is greatly overestimated. In the French biotope there are 75 species of sharks that do not pose any danger to humans. The colossal budget of 20 million euros [para la producción del filme] it could have served the cause of the sharks instead of harming them. Meanwhile, research to better understand our French sharks is in agony during this period,” said Nicolas Ziani, extremely upset with what was portrayed in Xavier Gens’ film.
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