Breathe

BREATHE

Director : Andy Serkis

Year : 2017

Genre : Biographical drama

Rating : ***1/2

After proving himself to be an actor of formidable talent in films such as 'The Lord Of The Rings' trilogy (2001-2003), 'Longford' (2006) and the wonderful 'Planet Of The Apes' reboot (2011-2017), Andy Serkis now stretches his directorial wings with this well crafted and evocatively titled biographical drama about the life of Robin Cavendish whose brave battle with polio led him to become a pioneering advocate for the disabled. Portrayed quite brilliantly by Academy Award nominee Andrew Garfield, Cavendishs' astonishing story is one that may not be widely known to the general public but with the release of 'Breathe', more people will hopefully become aware not only of the trials and tribulations fought by Cavendish across his short yet remarkable life but also the courage shown by the many still affected by this cruelest of air-borne illnesses.

Having portrayed a fellow survivor in the form of tragic punk rocker Ian Dury ('Sex & Drugs & Roll and Roll' (2010)), director Serkis is no stranger to the world of polio and it's devastating effects and with the help of 'Shadowlands' co-writer William Nicholson as well as valuable input from Cavendish's own son Jonathan (who also serves as executive producer), he has by and large succeeding in delivering an empathetic yet undeniably entertaining drama. Once again, Andrew Garfield gives a brilliant central performance as Cavendish himself while 'The Crown's Claire Foy excels in her somewhat thankless role as Diana, Robin's loyal wife who both figuratively and literally lifted him out of the hospital bed and into the worlds of fatherhood and advocacy. There are also some fine supporting performances from the likes of Tom Hollander who is equally great in his dual role of Diana's twin brothers Bloggs and David while the always lovable Hugh Bonneville is delightfully eccentric as Teddy Hall, the visionary professor whose miraculous creations would not only change Robin's life but also the lives of thousands of other polio victims. All the cast do good work here but as is to be expected, it is Garfield who dominates the proceedings and he rises to the occasion with both tremendous ease and humble respect. 

Like 'The Theory Of Everything' (2015) and 'The Diving and the Butterfly' (2007) before it, 'Breathe' does a remarkable job of putting it's audience in the same position as it's suffering protagonist and while it may unfortunately delve into melodrama during it's generous running time (a particularly troublesome scene set in Spain simply reeks of artifice), Serkis and his team still manage to portray the horrors of disability with a frankness which is, at times, disturbingly palpable. In one particularly horrifying set piece, Cavendish and his entourage visit an unnervingly clean German hospital where the bodies of polio sufferers are neatly stacked, prompting Robin to utter the polemic query, ''Why do you keep your disabled people in prison?'' This recurrent theme of imprisonment is beautifully exemplified through Robert Richardson's intimate and, at times, claustrophobic cinematography as well as the nightmarish sound design which accentuates the ghastly wheezing of the mechanical respirator keeping Robin alive, providing a suitably dischordant descant to Nitin Sawhney's frequently elegiac orchestrations. 

Serkis and his team do nothing to diminish the terrifying effects of polio and there are numerous moments of 'Breathe' which really do shock and disturb. However amongst the darkness, there is still a great deal of light here and with the help of Nicholsons' sometimes jovial screenplay, 'Breathe' manages to be less about the horrors of polio but rather the joy and beauty of life. More than a few tears were shed during my screening of 'Breathe' but there was also a great deal of laughs too and this made for a wonderfully emotive cinematic experience, the likes of which rarely rears its head in the modern multiplex today.

Deftly combining tragedy with comedy, fact with fiction and light with dark, 'Breathe' is a haunting, affecting and deeply moving film that manages to tell Robin Cavendish's story with the honesty and dignity his legacy so clearly deserves. Inevitably thematic comparisons are to be made, most notably with James Marsh's aforementioned 'The Theory Of Everything' and, in my opinion, the latter is the superior film. Nevertheless, this does nothing to dilute the power or pristine beauty of Serkis' impressive directorial debut, a debut which proves that there is so much more we can expect from this most versatile of filmmakers.