Review of Breath (2017) by D M — 14 Sep 2017

I watched this at TIFF this week. I was very impressed by the exhilarating visuals of the ocean. A gentle and meaningful story - Breath is an examination of boyhood and manhood, an unashamededly nostalgic throwback to a pre-technology era when childhoods were shaped by connectivity to nature instead of to WiFi. What does it mean to be brave, what does it mean to be a man?

This film does fail the Bechdel test, but it seems to do so deliberately. The women characters are one-dimensional and flawed, trapped helplessly in their categories - virgin, wife, mother. But as the story is told through the eyes of a young boy protagonist, it seems to make sense, Pikelets understanding of women IS shallow.

The real love interest in this movie is the ocean, forever changing, forever challenging, forever inviting.

I recommend this beautiful film.