I'm checking her for potential lung squeeze

Continuing my trip up The Guardian's top 50 films of 2023

#43 :  The Deepest Breath

The dangerous act of freediving is explored in a visually immersive new film taking us down to the depths and examining what causes those involved to take such major risks.

There are a lot of people in this world that do things that I don't understand - but freedivers have to be up there with the least understood of them all.  Maybe this film will help me understand - but we don't really believe that, do we?

For those of you who don't know, freediving involves going as deep as you can (and coming back again) on one breath and the film starts by following Alessia Zecchini on one such dive as she goes deep into the pitch black depths and very nearly doesn't make it back again, needing physical assistance to break the surface of the water and mouth to mouth resuscitation when she's made it.  Oh yes, I'm really not going to understand what makes anyone do this...

But, to be fair, the film doesn't really try to explain it - it's more the case that it's just a thing they do because they can, which I understand without having the faintest idea what's going on.  But the more they do it, they more things might go wrong.

The film is pretty well structured, following Alessia on her attempt to do something I don't comprehend with the help of safety diver Stephen Keenan, starting early on in both their lives and taking us forward through time as they meet, become friends and plan the attempt.  And (spoiler alert, but obvious if you watch the film) you can't help but feel that things aren't going to end well because Alessia is present to discuss her thoughts, but Stephen isn't and he's always talked about in the past tense.

We learn his death happened when he was helping her dive under The Arch Of The Blue Hole in Egypt which is one of the most dangerous dive sites in terms of diver fatalities and this forms the second half of the film with some extremely detailed footage from the day and later interviews for the film - the material with Alessia is heartbreaking and must have been extremely difficult for her to do. 

It's also fascinating to hear Stephen's dad say how he accepted that he died doing something he loved - "part of grief is selfish and I miss him, I miss him in my life.  But I am consoled by how he lived his life".  I'm not sure I could be quite so sanguine after losing my child but I appreciate the sentiment, particularly as Stephen struck you as someone who could quite easily have been miserable with the thrill in his life (which is very much not the case for me!).

It's all well filmed with some stunning footage and the film is well constructed, with a good timeline and detailed archive and recent interviews.  I bet they were dying to try and keep Stephen's death a secret for longer in the film but I suspect they soon realised they were on to a losing bet there - but if they had somehow managed it, it would have absolutely RUINED me.

So what is the main thing I've learned from this?  Well - freediving is not a safe thing to do, kids.  Does this surprise you?  It turns out it surprised a load of freedivers, but I'd also say it surprised me a bit with regard to the extent of the danger - it's REALLY not safe.  I also learned that going down is the easy bit - the pressure takes you down to RIDICULOUS depths (100+ metres) and then you have to fight your way back to the surface.

To sum up, I may still not understand the motivations involved at all but I really liked this film.  It's an interesting and well told story which teaches you about something you are probably not going to be that knowledgeable about whilst hanging it on a tragedy which is heart breaking, but also somehow uplifting - and it often looks gorgeous as well.  If you fancy it, then it's on Netflix - it's a strong recommendation from me, but you would need to be in the mood for some serious tugs on the heartstrings.

#44 - Watch this space again!
#42 - Just keep watching this space...