The Deepest Breath

Where to begin. First, the biggest structural mistake in a documentary is to treat the audience as stupid. This documentary does that tremendously well. 10/10 for that.

It frames everything with a build up to a climax, only to bait and switch the climax on the assumption you dont know the story or you wouldnt look it up prior to watching. In this day and age its a cardinal sin to assume this. Its also why a documentary like Senna is one of the greats. Kapadia doesnt assume the audience is stupid and everyone knows the end, so its more about the journey. Here, its as though youre taken on one journey only to fall down a "lets pretend secret" trapdoor. 0/10.

Second main flaw is the main character isnt very likeable and that seems to be the case from start to finish. 0/10.

Otherwise it was well made. This is where the 5 marks came from.

Ps. What an utterly stupid activity.

I often find myself deeply fascinated by people's passions, at the same time it sometimes frightens me the idea of how the obsession with passion can possibly be the end of you literally and figuratively. What does it really take to go after your passion? And how willing are you to sacrifice for it?

I watched this documentary without any knowledge of freediving or the story and it immediately grabbed my attention right from the opening scene, that itself kept me on the edge

It's such an interesting element of the story structure how stunning they capture the concept to be as an extreme sport, yet how dangerous of an endeavor it actually is. It shows you both sides of the athlete's obsession about it and the lengths they go for it, which leaves you questioning wanting to understand the depths of satisfaction beyond passion given their lives are at dangerous risks knowingly.

The cinematography was stunning, incredible archival footage! It takes you through the diver's journeys from top to underwater beautifully it's sometimes scary. The interviews were heartfelt and informative enough for you to understand a bit of the extreme sport, while at the same time, it maintained sensations and delivered emotionally making you feel for the tragedy and how their story intertwined in destiny.

Beautiful and profound and a celebration of love and life and living. It gripped me as much as Free Solo did in its edge of seat drama and tension. So cleverly structured and paced. I could sense its foreboding nature throughout but still could not anticipate the final heart wrenching outcome. Emotional and beautiful storytelling. Thank you for sharing this very personal story set against a beautiful score. I could not look away for a second and was transported into this unknown world, not experienced since The Big Blue. If you loved that film, this one will stay with you too. I will carry this story with me for a long time. Bravo!

Not A24's best film but it's still pretty good.

It's an interesting documentary about freediver Alessia Zecchini and Stephen Keenan on the goals, life, accomplishments and challenges they processes throughout her career with good insightful discussions and some gorgeous camerawork. Director Laura McGann does a pretty good job on capturing the career of Zecchini and maintaining the documentary's tone without feeling sloppy. The camerawork of the underwater sequences were absolutely gorgeous and beautiful. Documentaries about ocean life I always love because of the gorgeous production and shot compositions provided and The Deepest Breath does have some wonderful underwater scenes.

Throughout, there were some really good editing and emotional moments that were genuinely interesting and touching. The conversations between participants were insightful but admittedly there were a few discussion moments that felt a little dragged on. The soundtrack choices felt a little cheesy and some pacing could have improved. Overall, it's a pretty good documentary.

Wow this movie has to be the most heart touching, movies I have encountered in such a long time! Oh my goodness this documentary was just beautiful! I know im not the only who cried. I do not think I have ever cried to a documentary before, but i can down right tell you, this one is the first. Down to the pictures, the recorded footage, the recorded audio, actal people who were really there to experience every minute of the journey that took place, was just astonishing. I love how the timeline of the story was at a steady pace. It wasnt a drag nor did not seemed to leave any important parts out. It told a beautiful story. Just AMAZING!