Breath

Breath (Simon Baker, 2017) wr. Gerard Lee, Tim Winton (who narrates the film - from his 2008 novel), Peter Duncan, Simon Baker, prod. Simon Baker, Jamie Hilton, Mark Johnson, dp Marden Dean, Rick Rifici, dist. Arclight, Palace; Simon Baker, Elizabeth Debicki, Richard Roxburgh, Rachael Blake, Samson Coulter, Ben Spence; surfing; WA

Filmed in Denmark, Western Australia, Simon Baker’s feature film directorial debut, Breath. IF.

Baker’s crisp, almost wintry style visually reiterates the script’s rejection of the simplifications of nostalgia, preferring to view the past as a complex network of competing emotions and relationships. Moments on and around the water unfold with a sense of naturalism; they feel almost like poetic documentary. The ocean is presented as a kind of cleansing palette, where the minutiae of day-to-day existence is temporarily washed away, but the large questions – signified by the vastness of the water, perhaps – remain. Luke Buckmaster, Guardian.

Garry Gillard | New: 13 April, 2016 | Now: 19 January, 2019