First Take: Breathe- familiar yet different and pioneering

SYNOPSIS: The inspiring true love story of Robin and Diana Cavendish, an adventurous couple who refuse to give up in the face of a devastating disease.

And now, I finally get to see the film that opened this year’s London Film Festival. Andy Serkis as an actor has had a legendary career so far, from his pioneering performance capture work on Lord of the Rings and the Planet of the Apes films, to his lesser known works like playing Ian Dury in
2010’s Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll. Now, he finally gets to make a film of his own, and if this is anything to go by, he’s off to a cracking start in his directorial career.

Serkis does a remarkable job directing this one, taking a lot of influences from the older styles of British cinema, and blending it with more modern filmmaking techniques to create a film that clocks in at just under 2 hours. The pacing isn’t quite perfect, but that’s a minor thing when the rest of the film is added to the equation- the script from William Nicholson is very faithful to the real events that the film depicts, and it is shot incredibly by Robert Richardson, taking advantage of that rarely used 2:76.1 aspect ratio. Nitin Sawhney’s score also adds to the film nicely, and all of this comes together to
create something that is equal to films like The Theory of Everything in terms of the storytelling devices on offer.

Performance wise, the entire cast are brilliant. Andrew Garfield is pretty much bang on the money with every aspect of his role, which is apt considering the son of the person he plays produced the film (and is working with Serkis at his production company The Imaginarium)- and working on-screen with Claire Foy, the duo are very likable leads who the audience can really identify with, and this combination of performances and the chemistry they bring is something which really drives the emotion of the film home. The supporting cast are great too, and it’s a roll call of British talent which includes Stephen Mangan, Hugh Bonneville, Tom Hollander and Diana Rigg. It’s a charming film, and one that’s probably going to be buried by the amount of new releases coming in, and that’s a real shame.

THE VERDICT

Emotionally charged, full of hope, and a damn fine piece of filmmaking, Breathe is an outstanding debut behind the camera for Andy Serkis and his team at The Imaginarium Studios. It may not be the perfect film, but this could be a dark horse this awards season.

RATING: 4.5/5