In the Same Breath

source: In the Same Breath

An hour after watching this documentary, I'm still processing it all. I don't know how to describe it still, but I'll just say that it was visually captivating and it elicited a highly emotional response in me. Please watch for yourself and then write your own review.

Since these reviews stay posted pretty much forever, it may be commonplace in 2026 or 2031 to show footage inside of Wuhan, China when Covid hit in 2020. But in 2021, to see a film like this showing scenes of what was going on in Wuhan in 2020 is really amazing and cutting edge. Bravo to director Nanfu Wang for getting footage like this out to the world. I also appreciated that when it came to showing the American response, that Wang showed equal culpability among both Republicans and Democrats alike on the things they did wrong in trying to manage Covid when it hit us in early 2020. Hindsight is 20/20, and even though mistakes were made, I honestly think that both sides of the aisle were trying to do what they thought was the best thing for a situation that was unprecedented. Later on, how to manage Covid became way too posturing and political, but that's another movie to be made at a future date, I suppose.

Sometime in late 2019, and January 2020, a newly discovered virus, now known as COVID-19, quickly grew into a respiratory illness pandemic. There would be much debate on how it was born, or where it began. However, we now have learned that the virus can be especially deadly to humans with underlying medical problems such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, chronic respiratory disease, and cancer. Moreover, the world has learned the hard way how easily the COVID-19 virus spreads, primarily through droplets of saliva or discharge from the nose when an infected person coughs or sneezes. Hence, the inconvenient yet prudent use of masks and "social distancing." Nanfu Wang's "In the Same Breath," is a cutting look at this devastating pandemic. She neatly weaves the political narrative with the personal suffering of people first hand after she flew to China with her infant to visit her family for the New Year. This is her story, told through a documentary film that immediately fills the eyes with images of hospitals, medical personnel, Chinese and US news reports, fear, denial, and other visions of pure disbelief even as the virus continued to quickly spread beyond China and across the globe. What may transpire from this documentary is that the world was unprepared for such a catastrophe, and the strong leadership that was necessary to form a reaction plan simply didn't come to pass. As of August 20, 2021, 4,417,500 people have died from the coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak.

One hundred steps and one fifty. What if the pot calls the kettle black? It really shook me up and I cried a lot They're dead. They died by forgetting. "I am lazy and comfortable in this loud embrace. All the doubts of the day and the first night are swept away by the blessed air, and I feel that the saints of heaven and earth, drunk with beer and cigarettes, stagger in the air, ready to bestow infinite happiness on the people of Lu town." In 2002 it was Jiang Yanyong in 2019 it was Li Wenliang and they were not treated well. I can really understand some Taiwanese and Hong Kong people now. "even death doesn't scare me,why would I fear the communist party? "

I, as a cameraman, was in wuhan in the beginning of 2020. This is also the reason i want to watch this, although i don't want to. I want to say this at first, all the images are true. I appreciate what the director did to put this together. I also have full respect of those photographers who were there at the very beginning to save the footages. The two stars are for them. But once again, if you call that chinese propaganda, i will call this documentary a western propaganda. It is full of selected images and so carefully avoid anything positive. There was huge chaos at the beginning, and i believe wuhan has been doing its best to survive. I saw many many brave people, from hospital exports to neighborhood management, tried everything they can to put patients into hospital and save lifes. Nurses taking care of sick people without any protection even knowing they can be infected. People outside hospital are gathering supplies to prepare for lockdown. Other cities outside Wuhan are sending doctors, equipments, foots to support Whhan. And people were grateful. The situation was far beyond difficult. And Wuhan has been strong. Think about putting you in a Sci-Fi world like resident evil without a game instruction. This is what you have in Wuhan in the the spring of 2020, and Wuhan successed. If you go to wuhan today and talk with general people, you will see what people concluded after all those days. And i disagree the tone of this documentary. Mistake has been made, lives has been sacrificed, but people in China is doing their best to conquer this pandemic. And as it described on the imdb page, why dose Chinese government turn pandemic cover ups in Wuhan into a triumph? Because we didn't cover anything other than the heroes died body. And we defeated the devil, we won.

Decent doc. To those saying 'both' parties could have done better in the USA...LOL. President Trump did better than anyone at trying to protect Americans during the pandemic. HE had a proper vaccine, but the left blocked him from giving it out to the masses. Which, by the way he did not FORCE on anyone, unlike the Dems. Then the left made sure anyone who didn't feel like being forced to inject an unknown substance into their body - were demonized, fired, made homeless, and publicly ridiculed. Thanks to ONLY Biden and the left. History will remember that it was Republicans, Trump MAGA Republicans to be exact, that fought for American's freedoms during Covid. When Dems say 'both' parties are to blame, they really mean THEY f'd up lol.

An excellently researched, made and produced film that shows categorically the egotistical, uncaring attitude of politicians (around the world) as regards their own citizens lives! We are all aware of how the WHO (World Health Organization) and the CDC (Centre for Disease Control) lied to everybody almost from the very beginning; instead of admitting they did not have a clue about COVID-19 - or any other COVID man made disease's! As regards the China part of the story. I think anybody, with a modicum of common sense, knows that China cannot be trusted and they lie about everything and so, we more or less knew what to expect from them. A lot of China's health problems (a lot of you will remember SARS - Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome - doing the rounds of the world back in 2002) stem from the fact that China is a very congested and poverty stricken nation. They will deny this of course but, it is a fact! Because of this and the way its people in poverty exist day to day there are many health violations (I have witnessed some of the things they get up to in my own country, because they are totally without consideration for other people). Not all Chinese are like that in my country I am glad to say. If I was a world leader I would call for non trading with China altogether! Things are going to get worse with this country! Americas politicians and medical experts are seen to be just as dishonest as their Chinese counterparts in many, many ways. Again though, the American people are beginning to be aware of what self centered liars their voted representatives are...its only taken them a century or so to wise up to the fact. This film will make many aware of just what really went on and is still going on. Much of the problem that the world has had with this pandemic, is having been lied to about it from the very beginning! People were thinking of how they could make money from it and, how they could fool populations into going back to work by playing the seriousness of it down...so the economies would not suffer too much! Lives did NOT matter to the people in control, the elite power-mongers etc. Our lives mean nothing to them! WEAR A MASK (even if you have Asthma) and you women forget about smudged make-up etc and think about other peoples health - and your own - instead of being so vain. And you younger people stop being so arrogant and stupid, as it will kill you just as easily as its killing millions of other people like you! Our air is polluted, some areas worse than others!

I was blown away by this work. Loved how the director focused equally on China's and America's responses to the virus and how both administrative systems failed to contain the virus. This documentary needs to be seen by more people.

It's very ironic that the same people who defame China for being anti-democratic and hiding information about the first cases of Covid-19 are the same people in the West with their democracies and freedom of speech condemning science and using it for political purposes. It is at the same time sad, shameful, and ironic to note that the two extremely opposite in terms of democracy; one with lack of freedom of speech and the other with abundance, are exactly the same: radicals, ignorants , lack of education, imbecility, immoral and above all, they use fake news to promote themselves. We should never ever mix political, religious views and science to solve humankind crises and if you don't believe it, just watch the recent news around the Globe.