The Deepest Breath is a documentary about freediving champion Alessia Zechini but also kind of about Stephen Keenan a safety diver who was briefly Alessia's coach and maybe boyfriend before his accidental death(the movie foreshadows this and he is referred to in the past tense throughout however his death and the circumstances are gradually unspooled for manipulative effect by the filmmaker).
Gorgeously shot with one-of-a-kind footage of freediving and the depths. The visuals are absolutely breath taking. But like many of these kind of projects that document extreme athletes there is a lack of real objectivity. The idea that this is dangerous and, in almost every outing, life threatening is not really fully acknowledged or interrogated. Alessia and Stephen both in their interviews and in the way people talk about them never really come across as three dimensional humans and their involvement with the sport itself, and their achievements, have the blush of hero-worship rather than a more appropriate nuanced view given the risk and obsession required to even do the act.
Similar to Free Solo its a gorgeous movie that fails to truly engage with its subject. And perhaps Alessia given her drive and the extremity of what she does, that kind of personality, is antithetical to introspection/self-reflection and yet that is what this kind of movie needs either by her or the filmmaker. Yes, the footage is amazing, but ultimately this "sport" is pretty stupid where they routinely risk brain damage, lung damage, and death. Why? To what end? The movie is not interested in or not capable of asking those questions and as a result cannot ascend beyond the pleasing-to-look-at.
Beautiful if frustrating.
Currently streaming on Netflix.
Stream It.
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