The Deepest Breath
The Deepest Breath is streaming on Netflix at the time of writing. Rated PG. Common Sense says 13.
STORY: C
Alessia Zecchini is a world champion. Stephen Keenan is a coach. Together, they face the thrills and perils that one encounters in the world of freediving, a sport where athletes attempt to dive as far as they can under the water without air.
How to describe the story structure? I’ll use a boxing analogy: writer/director Laura McGann bides her time and keeps us guessing, before finally landing a thunderous left hook to our hearts. She creates a sense of dread that bobs and weaves in the background. Observant folks will notice it once they realize who gets to talk to the camera and who doesn’t.
But the decision to tell the story this way also creates a wall. We feel removed from the divers’ lives. Distant. The film feels more like a puzzle to be solved than a chance to spend intimate time with a group of extremely interesting people.
Many will admire McGann’s decision. It’s a bold choice, but one that comes with a cost.
PEOPLE: A-
News flash: no one - NO ONE - is in talks to make a feature documentary about me. Sure, there are days when writing film reviews gets pretty intense. Things can get hectic.
It’s tough to think of a more extreme sport than this. Alessia, Stephen, and the rest of their crew live very different lives than most people. They’ve tapped into some rare wavelength coursing through the universe. They’re driven to follow it, no matter the danger.
Most of us can’t comprehend why they do what they do. Most of us will never join them for neither a dip nor a dive. Still, there is much to be learned from their journey.
FILM NERD STUFF: A
Most people will shake their head in bewilderment at what these people do. They work underwater, hidden, apart from the sensible machinations of life on terra firma. Freediving is unfathomable (pun totally intended).
Interviews and archive footage can only take you so far inside the heads of these extreme athletes. The underwater footage fully thrusts you into the alien world of freediving. The handheld camera work - which so often feels authentic on dry land - feels smooth and otherworldly. Our couch is miles away. We feel as if we’re swimming among the maniacal aliens.
The camera crew completely draws us into the ocean, giving us a glimpse of something we would never see otherwise.
MOVIES IS LIFE/LIFE IS MOVIE (Elective Class): B
Do you think life is like a movie? And that you’re the main character? Maybe, maybe not. One bit of advice popular with both therapists and Buddhists is to imagine yourself not as the main character but as someone in the audience, watching the movie of your life on the big screen.
For example, let’s say you’re being too hard on yourself, either because of something you’ve done or something that’s happened to you. One way to stop the spiraling is to imagine you’ve got a good friend in a similar situation. What advice would you give that friend? How would you speak? Typically, people will act much kinder and positively toward others. By giving ourselves a little distance, we can treat ourselves that way as well.
As much as we’d like to imagine ourselves watching the movie of our life roll by on our phone, it’s extremely difficult to live our life exclusively from the audience point of view. I think that’s the difference between most people and the divers in this film.
Freedivers aren’t just in the audience watching their lives happen. They’re in the back row of the theater. Maybe the lobby. Distancing themselves is how they’re able to live life obsessed with pushing their limits, going to dangerous extremes, and making sacrifices.
Doing that may result in a great movie/life, but it can also very likely result in a short one. These freedivers seem well aware of that possibility. It’s a fascinating watch, but I’m glad it’s not me on that screen.
FINAL COMMENTS:
The film is a cinematic and technical marvel. Some will find the story emotionally potent. Some, like me, will rue the insights omitted along the way. Either way, nothing can diminish the feats of the fascinating people we meet in this unique film.