Doug Allan

Jacques' father, Daniel, loses the single client upon which his salary depends, and the family are forced to rely on Elizabeth's family money for the next four years.

But when the war ends in 1918, Daniel is offered a new position on the condition that the family traveled to New York.

And it's after crossing the Atlantic that the shy young Jacques comes out of his shell.

In America, Jacques' older brother, Pierre-Antoine, who is also known as PAC, the acronym of his initials, becomes his closest companion.

Both strong-willed and charismatic, the brothers share a spirit of adventure, which will take them on different paths.

In 1923, the family moves back to France.

Jacques saves his allowance to buy a hand-cranked movie camera and finds that using it gives him greater confidence and allows him to make friends more easily.

At 14, he completes his first full-length project, filming his cousin's wedding.

At school, however, his newfound self-assurance sometimes tips into mischief.

After being expelled for breaking windows, he is sent to a boarding school 250 miles from home.

It's strict, but he thrives under its discipline.

And in 1929, at the age of 19, he graduates from high school and joins the French Navy.

There his work will bring him closer to what will become his greatest love, the sea.

Cousteau trains as a gunnery officer, responsible for the weapons on a battleship, and spends a year at sea with fellow cadets on a training cruise that takes them around the world.

From pearl divers in the South Pacific to the harbors of Japan, Cousteau films everything he can, returning home with reels of footage that he cuts together and shows to family and friends.

But though he'll be known for his love of the sea, for now the restless Cousteau has his eyes on the skies.

Before long he requests a transfer to the Naval Aviation Corps so he can train as a pilot.

By 1936, at the age of 26, he has nearly finished his flight training, when he borrows his father's sports car to attend a friend's wedding.

On the journey through the mountains, the headlights suddenly fail, and Cousteau crashes into a ditch.

Both of his arms are badly broken, and months of painful physiotherapy follow.