Directed by Laura McGann here we have The Deepest Breath, which launched in July 2023 on Netflix. It’s styled along the lines of extreme sports documentaries such as Free Solo (2019).
You can also compare it to a Werner Herzog type documentary (think 2005’s remarkable Grizzly Man) in its study of humanity facing extremes.
Largely about Italian free diver Alessia Zecchini, the film explores her life and what draws her towards the plunging depths of the ocean.
The Deepest Breath and the Pursuit of Many Records
The remarkable highlight of the documentary is right near the start, with Zecchini’s world record deep dive attempt.
Over the course of several minutes, the camera follows her graceful plunge down into the murky waters. These free divers reach pressures that crush their lungs to the size of a tennis ball—so deep it’s the length of a skyscraper and back.
With the below free dive, it all seems to go very well until the final few metres, when the free diver begins to struggle, gulp for air, and miss her supportive rope pulls.
This is alarming to watch, but as you’ll soon come to realise common in the world of free diving. It’s the final 20 metres of any dive where the vast majority of issues occur.
This is why the sport uses safety divers to assist with free diving attempts, which is where Irish safety expert Stephen Keenan enters the fray.
We learn about Keenan’s early life and his love for nature, how he explored the Amazon to find gorillas, and then his sudden discovery of free diving. After that, he became the world’s leading safety dive and formed a close bond with Zecchini.
Around that story The Deepest Breath contemplates the nature of free diving and why anyone would want to do this for a living.
Zecchini maintains her love for the sport from childhood where she proved a total prodigy for it, able to hold her breath for 105 metres.
She idolised Russian free diving champion Natalia Molchanova (1962-2015) who disappeared whilst diving in Formentera near Spain.
In amongst the considerations on death and the reasons for all of this, you have the free diving competitions. The individuals pushing for world records (a battle that continues on to this day).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Dg8hVI2YtA&ab_channel=TopflixBoss
Where the documentary excels is in explaining what it’s like diving that deep into the ocean. Something most of us aren’t likely to do, due to physically being incapable and kind of just not wanting to go through that.
Zecchini is keen to stress the sense of solitude and peace she finds in the depths of the world’s oceans, which is complemented by her competitive drive to be the best free diver in history.
Where we have issues with The Deepest Breath is its second half, which does draw out a lot and manipulates the upcoming tragedy.
It’s clear early on either Alessia Zecchini or Stephen Keenan don’t survive, although it’s pretty easy to determine who doesn’t make it. We’re not sure this approach was necessary, but it does allow the director to heap on the sense of foreboding.
At two hours we feel if 30 minutes had been removed a more impactful extreme sports documentary would have been present here.
Look at Asif Kapadia’s Senna (2010) for an outstanding example of a concise character study of humanity in extremes.
The deep sea footage of Zecchini (amongst others) diving is often astonishing.
Yet wrapped that side is this attempt to drag out what befalls the two individuals who spearhead the film. Again, we just find this as a bit of a hamfisted way to manipulate our emotions.
As a counterpoint to our take on it, we’ll highlight most critics and cinemagoers have hailed the film. Rolling Stone’s Chris Vognar wrote in his review:
“It keeps you wondering what fate will befall these intertwined figures who live seemingly to cheat death and it manages to celebrate the depths to which they pursued their shared obsession.”
The Deepest Breath most certainly is worth watching. It’s available on Netflix right now and offers a glimpse into an unknown world of triumph and danger.
