Breath

Valiant first directing attempt by Baker. This is worth watching for the scenery of the South coast of Western Australia alone. The surf sequences are also very well put together, and really draw the viewer into the waves and the ocean.

That's about where my praise ends though. Frankly, the film never quite achieves the heights that some reviews claim. Unlike the presentation of the scenery and surfing, the characters are not well drawn out, and struggle to develop any telling depth. The boy coming of age, the crazy mate, the high school girlfriend, the stereotyped parents, the mentor. All of them are frequently used templates by the author (Winton), this feels like the same tale he's told before, just with different characters and setting.

I read each new Tim Winton book as they come out. He's one of Australia's best writers and his work is certainly the most authentic Australiana. So, even though I've admired Simon Baker's work for many years, I worried that the film would be hard-pressed to match the quality of the written story. The anxiety was wasted; Breath the movie is a superb rendering of the book, managing to capture the moods, emotions, fears love and the allure of surfing in an understated and intimate way, even while omitting sections of the book, which was a complex 215 pages, and redirecting the thrust of the novel. At almost two hours, it's paced in a tempo that matches the period, the people and the lifestyle and flows past like the beautiful waves at Barney's. The young actors are brilliant but congratulations to all concerned because so is the film.

It may take time to see how Breath is regarded in the list of all-time best Australian movies but regardless of how Simon Baker's debut feature as director ends up being regarded in due time, Breath is easily one of the most impressive local film's in year's and arguably one of the best film's yet made about the power and alluring nature of surfing.

Based on Tim Winton's novel of the same name, Breath centres around teenage mates Pikelet and Loonie (played impressively by newcomers Samson Coulter and Ben Spence) who in a small coastal town in Western Australia begin a love affair with the waves and a friendship with the older and married surf loving Sando that will shape the course of their lives.

Its a personable and relatable tale, one that is very close to Winton's heart as an avid surfer and a long time resident of Western Australia and Baker not only does a great job at mixing in teenage coming of age scenarios but perfectly captures the majestic and ominous beauty of the ocean.

Breath looks beautiful, captured thoughtfully by Baker and his DOP's Marden Dean and Rick Rifici, its one of the more visually captivating local film's to come our way in sometime and therefore justifys an added reason to capture this adaptation on the big screen outside of its nicely crafted character drama.

With Pikelet and Loonie we have two teenage boys we've likely all come across before in our time, Pikelet the quiet and introverted type and Loonie the more carefree and rashly thinking troublemaker and as these two unlikely commrades attach themsleves to the lives of the somewhat sad Sando and his troubled wife Eva (played by Elizabeth Debicki), Breath creates a real and lived in world where things are set in course for the shaping of these characters lives.

Final Say -

Breath is a methodically paced and baggage free coming of age drama that is anchored by a respect and capturing of Australia's relationship with the sea.

An experience long removed from the world of The Mentalist, Simon Baker has here marked himself down as a director of note with what will be one of the year's best Australian films.

4 lamb chops out of 5

I grew up in the South West of Western Australia where this was filmed. I could relate well to the material and clearly Simon Baker has a love for the material as well. This is essentially a 'coming of age' movie.

I have never read the author but will read his work, the film is beautifully filmed, good story line and well acted. Coming of age movies can be gooey but this is believable and a joy to watch.