Le monde du silence(The silent world)is based on the best-selling book of the same name by famed oceanographer Jacques Cousteau.Set on board and below --the good ship Calypso during an exploratory expedition,this feature length documentary was codirecred by Cousteau and louis malle,whose first film this was(Cousteau seleted Malle for this assingment inmmediately upon the latter's graduation from film school.)Hightlights include a shark attack on the carcass of a whale ,and the discovery of a wrecked, sunken vessel.After winning adulation and awards at the Cannnes Film Festival ,Le monde du silence went on to clain an Academy Award.Much of the breathtaking underwater camerawork was photographed personally by Louis Malle who thereafter confined his filmmaking activities to dry land.