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Sundance 2023: A Stunning Story of Divers in ‘The Deepest Breath’
by Alex Billington
January 25, 2023
I didn’t know what I used to be moving into with The Deepest Breath. I didn’t know I used to be about to look at one among my favourite documentaries of the 12 months. I went on a journey with all these individuals and may always remember this expertise. The Deepest Breath is a extraordinary and awe-inspiring work of cinematic artwork. I used to be fortunate to attend the world premiere screening on the 2023 Sundance Movie Competition of this A24 / Netflix co-production, directed by Irish filmmaker Laura McGann. This distinctive documentary movie is that this 12 months’s Fireplace of Love (nominated for an Oscar!) – each movies observe the attractive story of a pair, analyzing their lives dwelling on the sting and doing one thing radical that few different individuals on this planet do. The Deepest Breath is a few freediving couple and the extremely harmful sport of freediving – the act of holding your breath for lengthy durations of time whereas diving or swimming. It moved me past phrases, I used to be wiping away tears by the top.
Laura McGann (additionally of the doc Revolutions beforehand) spent years amassing all the footage and placing collectively this movie, and it reveals. Her ardour for telling this story is clear in each body of this movie. The Deepest Breath introduces us all to 2 fantastic individuals – formidable Italian freediving champion Alessia Zecchini, and the beloved Irish adventurer / freediving teacher / security diver Stephen Keenan. They do not meet till a few years later into their careers, however the movie tells their tales in parallel from childhood into maturity. There is a beautiful cinematic comparability all through with how they every select distinctive lives. Other than a harrowing inside have a look at the game for freediving, the doc is one other life-affirming reminder that dwelling life will not be concerning the cash you make, however what you do, the way you deal with individuals, what you dedicate your life to, what your time is spent on. There’s even just a few interviews with Stephen’s father the place he candidly discusses this, saying that at the beginning he wasn’t positive if his son was profitable, however after watching this movie there is no means anybody can deny – this man was a hero. He modified lives, he even actually saved lives.
This world premiere screening expertise at Sundance 2023 was unforgettable, which is what I attempt for at Sundance 12 months after 12 months. One other particular person wrote on Twitter after it ended: “I don’t assume I am going to ever have the ability to clarify the nervousness everybody within the theater simply felt watching The Deepest Breath. Wow.” It was the epitome of a collective emotional expertise, all of us in that room being swept away this exceptional story being instructed on the display in entrance of us. I might hear two business guys sitting proper behind me gasping the entire time, sometimes muttering quietly beneath their breath “wow” or “ohh man…” Even they have been deeply affected. We all sat there in awe, holding our breath simply because the divers did, as they tried to perform the unimaginable, one thing that none of us in that room might ever dream of doing. I do not assume there was a single particular person left with out tears of their eyes when it ended, not solely due to Stephen’s story, additionally as a result of we have been all fully taken away by how overwhelmingly highly effective this movie is. It is a documentary movie about ardour, about love, about people, concerning the lengths we go to observe our goals, about feeling actually free in our lives.
What makes The Deepest Breath so particular is how cinematic it’s. I want everybody might have this expertise that each one of us at Sundance had watching it on the large display. It is not solely speaking heads, neither is it solely archival footage. Just like doc masterworks like Moonage Daydream, McGann made positive sound design, the rating (by Nainita Desai is ravishing!), enhancing, all labored in good concord to seize the deep feelings of this story of those two individuals. I had chills your complete movie. There wasn’t a second I wasn’t fully caught up within the story, totally immersed of their experiences and what they have been going by. It is an astonishing doc. When you’ve already watched Fireplace of Love and have been moved by the story of the Kraffts and the way filmmaker Sara Dosa put that collectively, it’s a must to add The Deepest Breath to your watchlist instantly. It is simply as unbelievable, as eye-opening, and as inspiring as that one. Whereas I could by no means be a freediver, I aspire to stay a life as fantastic as Stephen’s. And I want Alessia all the most effective success as she continues following her goals.
Alex’s Sundance 2023 Ranking: 9.5 out of 10
Comply with Alex on Twitter – @firstshowing / Or Letterboxd – @firstshowing
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