Opiniones de usuarios

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 hadn't/haven't read the book. My ideas about the themes and the story come entirely from seeing this film. It was about boys/young men and the influences and pressures on them when they are attaining "manhood" and what that involves, learning to say "no" to outside pressures and to stand on your own two feet and to decide what is right for you. The 2 leads were not actors, but their performances are terrific. Very natural and believable. "Loony" delivered some funny lines perfectly and conveyed behaviours consistent with his nickname with reckless abandon, but there were reasons in his life that drove his behaviour. Neither his lines nor his conduct were really funny when you thought about it afterwards (and I did think about the themes afterwards which, to me, highlights that a movie was good) The other boy "Pikelet" was a more cautious, thoughtful type and launching himself onto waves wasn't something that came naturally to him, he had to overcome his fears to give it a go. The character showed by his face the conflict of wanting to conform against his natural personality, quite an achievement for an actor, but for a non-actor even more so. The performances by the 2 young leads no doubt is attributable to Simon Baker's direction and he did a great job showing what was "going on" with the characters under the surface.

Both boys meet Sando, Simon Baker's character and he teaches them about surfing and taking risks on the water, how waves behave and that sort of thing. By their interactions with Sando and his American wife, who is depressed and frustrated after an injury, the boys also learn more about life and people. The story spans several years as the boys "grow up". I'm not into surfing, but the surfing scenes were "just right" not a second too long or boring to me as a non-surfer, visually stunning and interesting to watch and advancing the story. This isn't "light-hearted" entertainment, but if you want to see a beautifully shot story about people and what "makes them tick" and the influences on young boys/men, go to see it.

A coming of age novel, for years this book languished on my bookshelves in spite of the exhortations from my daughter to read it. In expectation of seeing the film, I read it over a weekend and was captivated although wasn't a fan of Tim Winton before I read "Breath". The film is faithful to the book apart from the sanitizing of auto-erotic asphyxiation. Spoiler alert so I won't say any more. The film is masterful: Simon Baker's direction and his performance as Sando is believable and superlative; the young men playing Pikelet and Loonie are superb; the cinematography is beyond belief. Unfortunately, Elizabeth Debicki lets the side down. Looking like a younger, blonde version of Cher, she is barely audible or intelligible. Nonetheless this is a stunning contribution to the Australian film industry's history. Four stars.

Read a lot of positive reviews regarding this movie, which is why my wife and I gave it a go and we were not disappointed. It's a coming of age drama two teenage boys take an interest in surfing and are coached by an experienced older man. The acting and direction were very good but I must mention the cinematography which was outstanding Australia is a beautiful country and the movie took full of advantage of this.

This is an enjoyable film and takes your thoughts away from the current world situation.

My wife and I both scored this a seven and recommend this movie.

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.

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.

Loved it. Having grown up in Western Australia in the 70's I loved every bit of this movie. Every bit that I could relate to that is. The feeling of being dumped in the surf, the chopper style pushies with banana seats, the poppity clatter of an old Kombie motor, the sandy WA bush, slipping on the rocks, the feeling of going up and over a wave just before it breaks, the rush of catching a wave, dancing badly at the school social, suntanned young skin, holding a girls hand, getting up at dawn to go surfing.. and of course, holding my breath under water just that bit too long. Couldn't help but not relate to avocado's in WA in the 70's.. I don't ever remember them.. and I'm a bit of a nerd when it comes to WA number plates.. the Kombi had black plates with white characters. The number format was right, even the first letter U was authentic, but sorry I don't ever recall black background with white letters.

I really liked the way this film began and, if had only been about surfing it would've been great. But around 2/3 in it took a twisted detour that ruined the movie for me. Sex between a knowing adult and a naive preteen should not be shown as sweet. It's called statutory rape, people. Add to that the countless F-bombs and, as time went by, the film just went downhill. It had so much potential, but no. It doesn't matter that it was a memoir. This is not a coming of age tale that needs to be told or seen. It is VERY adult. And even some adults, like myself, will squirm with some of the things that happen.

Beautiful atmospheric photography and universal of surf culture

Enjoy the vistas. Movie paints them right. I will write about the painting, not the plot. About product placement, too.

Tim Winton's story adding up some farcical ex-suburban plot to the usual package of nostalgia for places away and before. I do like his books, but not the re-runs of the same theme. Cloudstreet this is not.

When it becomes product placement. Product is Australia. West in this case.

This time, unlike beach shack places further north, Winton story takes place down south, in the wettest part of WA. Not Lancelin, Seabird, Gray or similar, but more Windy Harbour way. Which brings lots of darker hues in visuals, much more than one would usually get in the perennial sun bleached bright landscapes of WA.

Wind chimes in sea breeze. Plus some sheets sweat and regrets.

Still much better than any greed of 2000s Liquefied Natural Gas Chevron conquest hordes of once-was-Western Australia. Escapism at its best commercial self.

Enjoy the good parts.

As for those who decide to travel (or even follow the worn-out "6-month backpack routine") to WA (after all, Sando's wife is a tourist of kind), note that it was Disneylandised since (not just 70s, but even since early 2010s). Whole of it, not just Perth, Exmouth, Coral Bay, but down south as well. As silicon as it comes. Zac Efron time.

It would be like going to USA Pacific North-West now, after watching Twin Peaks. A bit late for the party. And even Cobains and grunge have been dead for a long time.

Better enjoy this movie, and then go to the places about which the movies have not been made yet (if there are such).

If you still do go there, sharks and getting shredded along the rocky bottom are for real (and nobody will make a book or a movie about you, if you get hurt). And it is all suburbia, oblivious of surroundings.

What a gorgeous piece of cinema! Not just the stunning landscapes treated with stunning cinematography but the authenticity of felt human experience communicated in simple narrative and dramatic terms. Forget the genre antics, forget the auteur pretentiousness, forget the arthouse poseurs. Tim Winston's brilliantly realistic story meets a brilliantly realistic cinematic treatment by all involved, Simon Baker proving that authentic lived experience is the best guide to inform directorial duties. He treats the story and its themes like a true local Aussie who's totally at home with the story and the characters that populate it. To his immense credit he's made no attempt to trade off the authenticity of this Australian story for a more internationalised market driven approach. And this sticking to the true spirit of Winston's story pays the ultimate dividend: treating the viewer to a range of universal themes about friendship, growing up, the role of the natural environment in our lives etc. Cinematic Occam's Razor at its best. Keep it simple, keep it true, keep it pure. A beautiful film, visually and emotionally, unpretentious and authentic. Many Aussie directors have gone to Hollywood to make it happen. Simon Baker comes home to do it and does it superbly. Mr Baker, more please!

I didn't enjoy this movie at all I think it's title should be Yawn not Breath. Great cinematography, one dimensional characters, unexplained plot twists and the 2 characters Sando played well by Simon Baker and Eva played with icy detachment by Elizabeth Debicki I found excruciatingly annoying and frustrating. Sando's character a once famous surfer turned immature irresponsible hippy chasing lost dreams (its never explained what happened to his career) and Eva his sickly injured girl friend who shows no emotion at all and without giving the plot away ( there's not much to give away) becomes entangled in what I found to be a disturbing and predatory sexual encounter with the only character in the story,I had any empathy with .Eva is the most disturbing female character I've seen depicted in a film in ages . The 2 young actors cast as Pikelet and Loonie played by Samson Coulter and Ben Spence are excellent but Richard Roxburgh and Rachael Blake's characters as the parents who seem to let their son do anything he wants , even risk his life fulfilling the whims of surfer hippy freedom in my opinion are wasted due to the parents lack of character development. I did like Pikelet's decision at the end it was the best part of the plot. I know people who enjoyed it and have read good reviews and bad for this film but as I always say the best critic for a film I see is myself and in this instance not my cup of tea thanks, perhaps I'm over Coming of Age films I didn't like Call Me By Your Name either for similar reasons.

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.

The surfing scenes are out of this world. The acting is superb. Surfers who are also actors are a new phenomenon in film, and the director makes great use of their many talents. I would have given this one a 10 if it hadn't been for the multiple scenes of soft porn/adultery which could have been suggested instead of shown.

Mature scenes. Rough language. Nudity. Kinky sexual activity. Lying to good friends.

The first half of the movie was boring with its only redeeming qualities being the surfing shots. The second half of the movie involves a disturbing relationship between an adult and an underaged boy. Disturbing is really my only word for this, including how it was portrayed. A criticism I see a lot of people agree on is that I could barely understand the dialogue, and it's not the accents because I'm Aussie. This whole story left me wondering, what was the point? I honestly didn't get much out of it and could have skipped it all together. I so badly wanted to like it because I love Simon Baker. Maybe the next one.

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 read the book then went looking to see if a movie had been made of it.

I was disappointed with the movie for two main reasons.

Firstly, the movie, while sometimes narrated by Pikelet's older self, seems to focus soley on the younger man, which destroys the major theme of the book, which is why the older Pikelet has screw up a lot of his life.

Secondly, Simon Baker, who plays Sando, is rather unconvincing as a retired professional surfer. He just doesn't have enough physicality. Considering that there isnt all that dialogue for Sando they could have used an actual surfer.

Set in the 70's in Coastal Australia, our story focuses around two teenage boys. Like most teenage boys, they ride their bikes, causing cheeky mischief around the town and are somewhat bored with life. One day they discover a beach with a pro surfer tackling waves fearlessly. Needless to say, the two teenagers are impressed and encouraged to learn how to surf. They earn money by completing horrible chores and soon purchase second- hand surf boards so they can begin to learn.

While learning to surf they meet Sando (Simon Baker), who becomes the boys surfing mentor. Sando was once a pro- surfer himself and sees the potential in these two young boys- perhaps they remind him of himself once. Sando takes the boys to surf spots that also have larger waves that will challenge them.

Will the two boys overcome their fears of the waves and most importantly, how will this new friendship with Sando change all of their lives forever...?

For this who are unaware, Breath is based on a award-winning novel by Tim Winston. While Breath stars Australian actor Simon Baker in a lead roll, Simon Baker is also the director of this film. This is officially Simon Baker's directional debut. Needless to say I was rather curious and supportive given the history of Simon Baker's career.

Filmed and shot in the waters around Western Australia, Breath is a visually stunning film. The sounds and shots of the surf, waves and the creative use of under water filming is fantastic. Because the film is based on a book, we are graced with a narrator from time to time to assist us with plot points. The two young male stars are new to the screen and both provided fun and solid performances (Samson Coulter & Ben Spence).

The films looks great, it has the acting... so what's missing?

The answer is simple- something is lost when the story went to screen. Going into the cinemas the other night, I didn't have a clue what this story was actually about. Based on the film's poster and trailer, I felt there was something great to be told here for all Australian movie lovers. I personally enjoyed where the film was headed within the 1st and 2nd half of the film. Once we reached the film's 3rd and final act, I began to feel confused, uncomfortable and sadly... utterly disappointed. Judging by the other cinema patrons in my cinema, I don't feel I'm the only one here. The film's third act gives very little reward (or possibly none) and resolution. I honestly didn't understand how this happened and I felt like I was cheated as an audience member. I will also comment that in my opinion, the film should actually be rated MA15 + not M as the film contains sex scenes between a young teenage boy and an older woman...

Overall, I personally was enjoying the story of Breath until we reached the film's third act, which ended any joy I did had for film. All the moments surrounding the film's wrap up and 3rd act felt out of place and somewhat random. We also have uncomfortable moments (mostly sex scenes involving a teenage boy). Some people may love the story and might be a fan of the book, but as a film, apart from the strength in the visuals and acting, the story on screen didn't leave me feeling "Breathless".

5.1/10 Walkden Entertainment

This is an alright enough film which could have been a lot better and stronger if the crew had added some extra effort and strength. This film is slightly different from the novel by Tim Winton but it is still watchable for all viewers. The storyline of this film may have been simple and straight but it was fine. The cast selection was good enough. They did not exactly fully commit nor connect to the storyline nor to their respective characters. The chemistry that was displayed throughout this film between the cast members could have been a lot better and stronger to make the film a lot better and stronger.