Recensie Deeper Breathing [Netflix]

Director: Laura McGann | Time to play: 108 minutes | Year: 2023

the deepest breath begins with a world record attempt. A diver, a breath and a safety line in the bottomless depths. In a moving and calm way, this documentary describes the limitless efforts of Alessia Zecchini, one of the best female divers in the world. It’s a beautiful sight, but a tense one: with every journey below the surface, the beauty of the ocean is accompanied by a little contempt for death.

In 2018 kwam National Geographic met free soloan astonishing cinematic portrait of a mountaineer leaving his basic gear behind on key climbs. the deepest breath can feel free to free solo of diving: a freediver still uses a safety line, but trusts his own (long) breath when taking a leap of faith. The familiar oxygen cylinders are nowhere to be seen on Alessia Zecchini.

It takes energy to put yourself into a passion you (perhaps) don’t understand, and the deepest breath It is not light to see food despite the spectacular premise. After years of practice, the retro footage of a shallow pool ends up in the Egyptian bay of Dahab, where Zecchini wants to conquer a special but dangerous diving route after a successful world record attempt. In the summer of 2017, she will be trained and groomed by safety diver Stephen Keenan, who previously guided Zecchini to his world record and runs a freediving center in Dahab. Over time, the two also become love partners.

Director Laura McGann and her colleague Julian Hart had access to a considerable amount of private video footage during editing and made optimal use of it. Most of the attention is focused on the most public dive attempts in the Bahamas (world record) and the route in Dahab Bay, but the preparation for them doesn’t seem rushed or sensational. Very gradually, Zecchini and Keenan’s stories become more intertwined.

At the beginning of the documentary, an introductory text states that, in addition to the recordings of
underwater cameras and archival material, reconstructions have also been used. A transparent release, but not a necessary addition: what is real and what is not shines through. the deepest breath through effortlessly. Raw records of so-called blackouts—a ‘brain pause’ caused by a lack of oxygen and a large pressure difference in the lungs—are unsightly indications of the risks involved in apnea.
Inevitably, a movie on such a subject feels oppressive and even fatalistic. At best, McGann could have chosen to dose the emotional musical accompaniment a little more (a rich score by Nainita Desai), but this is never misplaced disaster tourism. Therefore, the main characters express clearly enough that they themselves look out for these dangers and are eager to share their love of the ocean and the sport.

The latter does not alter the deepest breath it can raise valuable questions about the appeal of extreme sports and, ultimately, about the viewing experience itself. Why does the depth of the ocean keep drawing you in when you plunge to the brink of brain damage and flirt with death? And what does it say about you if you feel more alive precisely when you see stories about contempt for death? It is highly personal that Zecchini manages to give a satisfactory answer to that first question in particular.

the deepest breath can be seen in Netflix.