The late Enzo Maiorca

The legendary Italian freediver and diver Enzo Maiorca has died at the age of 85. He was the first man to dive beyond a depth of 50 metres while holding his breath. He will always be associated in the mass consciousness with the film “The Big Blue”, where his role was played by Jean Reno.

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Enzo Maiorca was born in 1931 in Sicily. He learnt to swim when he was only a few years old and was strongly attached to water all his life. He passed away on 13 November in his home town in southern Italy.

When he plunged to a depth of 50 metres in 1961, he not only proved that it was possible, but he also disproved doctors’ theories that pressure at that depth would lead to chest collapse and death. After descending to what was supposed to be an impossible depth, he did not stop. His life record was 101 metres, achieved at the age of… 57! In 1988 to be exact…

… It was during this period that the film which brought him into the mass consciousness premiered. It is, of course, the work of Luc Besson – “The Big Blue”, where the role of Enzo is played by Jean Reno. However, despite the widespread admiration for this picture, he himself had a very bad opinion about it.

“Luc Besson is a great director. But when he made The Big Blue he was still very young and was influenced by Mayol, who was older than him and co-director of the film. The latter projected a vision of Maiorka the thief, devourer of spaghetti alle vongole, with a moustachioed mother – a tyrant, and a fat one at that. Please forget about “The Big Blue”” – said Maiorca

He found the work of the Besson-Mayol duo so defamatory and damaging that he led to a court ban on its broadcast throughout Italy. It was only in 2002 (a year after Mayol’s death), after a few scenes had been cut and re-edited, that the film was released in Italian cinemas with Enzo Maiorcia’s blessing.

Photo: enzomaiorca.it