Breath

source: Breath

Great actors, great location go along and support a local film

Beautiful atmospheric photography and universal of surf culture

I looked forard to this movie and expected to enjoy it asthe latest high quality Aussie drama. I know the area it was filmed in intimately. I really think that if I had not recognised the backdrops I would have enjoyed the movie less and would have given it a score of 1. The surfing sequences are really well filmed - made me sit and think about how the cameraman must have captured the scene. They created the feelings of doom, bravery and fear. That said, there was little else good here. Not much reflected believable real life, it suffered from the Australian affliction of "one scene and one prolonged look into the mid-distance says more than a 1000 words". It's all been done before. Even the leading lady (supposedly the smouldering star's wife?) fell into this trap - why did she suddenly want to home shool this teenager. I worried about the fact that the kid was proably below the age of consent. The story meandered, there were unecessary scenes (the truck crash with the shot cow - what did it relate to?). But the gratuitous plastic bag scenes, as others have mentioned - why, why, why include these. I do see that others would see that it was used to show the wife's loss of enjoyment of living normally. It added a nasty undertone which was superfluous. Where were the women in the movie- they were just food or sex providers. I admit that I do not enjoy Tim Winton's output but even he must have slepwalked through the screenplay.

Went and saw the movie Breath today, "BORING", up there with the boring surf movies of the 60's. Very predictable. I have read many of Tim Winton's books, however if the book is anything like the movie, I will not bother buying it.

I am not Australian. The film really didnt do it for me. The characters were too simple too one-dimensional. The "obsession" pretence didnt work. The plastic bag should have been omitted from the film version. Completely needless. Just WTF?

Loved it. Having grown up in Western Australia in the 70's I loved every bit of this movie. Every bit that I could relate to that is. The feeling of being dumped in the surf, the chopper style pushies with banana seats, the poppity clatter of an old Kombie motor, the sandy WA bush, slipping on the rocks, the feeling of going up and over a wave just before it breaks, the rush of catching a wave, dancing badly at the school social, suntanned young skin, holding a girls hand, getting up at dawn to go surfing.. and of course, holding my breath under water just that bit too long. Couldn't help but not relate to avocado's in WA in the 70's.. I don't ever remember them.. and I'm a bit of a nerd when it comes to WA number plates.. the Kombi had black plates with white characters. The number format was right, even the first letter U was authentic, but sorry I don't ever recall black background with white letters.

It may take time to see how Breath is regarded in the list of all-time best Australian movies but regardless of how Simon Baker's debut feature as director ends up being regarded in due time, Breath is easily one of the most impressive local film's in year's and arguably one of the best film's yet made about the power and alluring nature of surfing. Based on Tim Winton's novel of the same name, Breath centres around teenage mates Pikelet and Loonie (played impressively by newcomers Samson Coulter and Ben Spence) who in a small coastal town in Western Australia begin a love affair with the waves and a friendship with the older and married surf loving Sando that will shape the course of their lives. Its a personable and relatable tale, one that is very close to Winton's heart as an avid surfer and a long time resident of Western Australia and Baker not only does a great job at mixing in teenage coming of age scenarios but perfectly captures the majestic and ominous beauty of the ocean. Breath looks beautiful, captured thoughtfully by Baker and his DOP's Marden Dean and Rick Rifici, its one of the more visually captivating local film's to come our way in sometime and therefore justifys an added reason to capture this adaptation on the big screen outside of its nicely crafted character drama. With Pikelet and Loonie we have two teenage boys we've likely all come across before in our time, Pikelet the quiet and introverted type and Loonie the more carefree and rashly thinking troublemaker and as these two unlikely commrades attach themsleves to the lives of the somewhat sad Sando and his troubled wife Eva (played by Elizabeth Debicki), Breath creates a real and lived in world where things are set in course for the shaping of these characters lives. Final Say - Breath is a methodically paced and baggage free coming of age drama that is anchored by a respect and capturing of Australia's relationship with the sea. An experience long removed from the world of The Mentalist, Simon Baker has here marked himself down as a director of note with what will be one of the year's best Australian films. 4 lamb chops out of 5

I read each new Tim Winton book as they come out. He's one of Australia's best writers and his work is certainly the most authentic Australiana. So, even though I've admired Simon Baker's work for many years, I worried that the film would be hard-pressed to match the quality of the written story. The anxiety was wasted; Breath the movie is a superb rendering of the book, managing to capture the moods, emotions, fears love and the allure of surfing in an understated and intimate way, even while omitting sections of the book, which was a complex 215 pages, and redirecting the thrust of the novel. At almost two hours, it's paced in a tempo that matches the period, the people and the lifestyle and flows past like the beautiful waves at Barney's. The young actors are brilliant but congratulations to all concerned because so is the film.

I grew up in the South West of Western Australia where this was filmed. I could relate well to the material and clearly Simon Baker has a love for the material as well. This is essentially a 'coming of age' movie.