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This 50-minute documentary is an outstanding testimony of Georges Delerue's work in the sixties, probably his most creative period. One can recognize the mischievous Ken Russel's touch from the mundane opening sequence which is scored by Delerue as typical film noir sequence in order to demonstrate the power of his music. The film features a great deal of unpublished music including some awesome "sons et lumières" excerpts performed live in a studio by symphony orchestra and broad chorus. Delerue himself can be seen at the baton, rehearsing at the piano and having fun with his first wife and one of two daughters.

I had the opportunity to watch this movie thanks to a private contact and can't understand why it is still not available for general audience at this time.

This movie took only a few elements from Loti's novel and therefore might be disappointing for people who expect a faithful adaptation. It doesn't prevent "Pêcheur d'Islande" to be a fine, popular movie without a dull moment. The cinematography by Raoul Coutard - who worked extensively with Jean-Luc Godard - is a pleasure to watch, the soundtrack by the underrated composer Louiguy is quite enjoyable and, most of all, all the actors are convincing enough, especially the main parts played by Jean-Claude Pascal, veteran Charles Vanel and the young Juliette Mayniel. If you understand a little French don't miss it as it is available on YouTube, at least at the time I'm writing this review.

The first 40 minutes of this very slow paced flick were interesting enough but then everything began to suck. Elio's behavior especially becomes quite ridiculous. Notably nearly all character start to smoke as if they were in long commercial for the tobacco industry, which have most probably provide half of the movie's budget following a common sponsorship practice.