Breathe

A truly remarkable story, well scripted and performed, is based on the life of Robin and Diana Cavendish and produced by their son, Jonathan. Claire Foy and Andrew Garfield lead a great supporting cast. Great themes about life, death, love, faithfulness, the courage it takes to live and the tenacity of love that pushes the boundaries of courage and creativity. I heartily recommend it to you. I give this film an 8 (great) out of 10. {Drama}

The winner of the 2017 Heavy-Duty Tissues Award can now be announced. The beautifully produced British film Breathe (2017) is an inspirational bio-pic based on the short life of Robin Cavendish who was the longest survivor of polio in the pre-vaccination era. That description does little to prepare viewers for what is a multi-layered period drama, with themes about assisted dying, disability rights, medical innovation, personal triumph over adversity, and the all-conquering power of a woman's love. Amongst all of this are several good cries.

Set in the 1950s, Robin Cavendish (Andrew Garfield), a dashing young tea-broker, met the love of his life Diana (Claire Foy) at a cricket game. Before long, they are courting, married, and set for an idyllic yet modest life together until Robin is struck down by the paralysis of polio. At the time, the only prognosis was a short life tied to a hospital respirator. For the active Robin death was preferable to being tethered to an artificial lung, but Diana would have none of it. Close friend and inventor Teddy Hall (Hugh Bonneville) pioneered a wheel-chair with a battery powered respirator that freed Robin from a life inside hospital, despite advice that he would not survive outside for more than two weeks. The story traces their adventurous lives together, including a trip to Africa and a disability conference in Germany. Perhaps the film's most disturbing image is a German hospital where polio victims are laid out in morgue-like boxes, kept alive only by mechanical respirators.

It is impossible to imagine this film being bearable without Andrew Garfield's extraordinary performance, supported by Claire Foy in the equally demanding role of his wife. Garfield possesses one of cinema's most expressive faces which he deploys to full effect as the mostly prostrated polio patient who can only speak a short sentence at a time between breaths. From the depths of wanting to die to the joyful heights of feeling his baby son's skin against his face, Garfield communicates in a facial sign language that says more than the words of fine orators. Some viewers will fairly believe that Claire Foy is the film's real star. Where Garfield is an emotional roller coaster, Foy is a powerhouse of defiant strength who refuses to surrender to polio or to her husband's wish to die. If the film can be faulted, it may be in its polite sanitisation of what it means to depend on others for every bodily function.

This story is more about unconditional love than heroism. Robin was surrounded by caring and talented friends, including the inventor of the respirator wheelchair that gave him freedom. Most importantly, he had a wife whose stubborn loyalty forced him to push on where others may have given up. Robin became a high-profile disability spokesman because fate gave him the opportunity to advocate for others. This warm-hearted story illuminates a little-known episode of history that has been consigned to the archives of medical science. Take extra tissues, but you will leave feeling inspired.

This film tells the story of a man who contracted polio while in Africa in 1950's. He became completely paralysed from neck down, and was given six months to live by the doctors. With the support of his pregnant wife and his many friends, he breaks all confines and expectations imposed on him.

I cannot quite imagine that the wheelchair is only such a recent invention! For something that is so vital and integral to modern day health care, it is a shock to me that it was only so recently that Cavendish came up with this transformative idea. The story is very touching. It is great that he had the support of so many loving people, which gave him the power to live and inspire and transform the lives of others. The technical aspects of this film is great as well. The scene in the German hospital is unbelievably effective, and provokes people to think what exactly is good for disabled people. The ending is very powerful, and it is augmented by the fact that it gives time for the profound events to set in. I really enjoyed this film. It is a truly touching film that makes you examine what you have in life.

Not perfect but pretty damn close to perfection .

I've said it before the best films are based on real events . Andy Garfield deserves the best actor Oscar . This one will make you laugh , cry and smile .

One man's fight for survival against the odds with the loving support of his wife and son who incidentally produced the film .

Excellent casting , acting and directing by Serkis . Beautiful photography a film that ought to be depressing was actually somewhat uplifting and you'll want to see it again and look up the real story .

A British cinematic masterpiece worthy of an Oscar nomination.

Pad.A 9/10

This is a beautifully filmed movie. It's inspiring to watch the devotion of the wife in supporting her husband struck down with polio at age 28. His subsequent efforts to live outside the hospital and advances in a wheelchair with a ventilator attached are quite illuminating. Especially with what happened to Christopher Reeve it is still relevant today. This movie doesn't focus too much on the awful side which is good or it would be too depressing.

The leads are watchable. Claire Foy QE2 of the Crown speaks and acts a lot like she does as Queen Elizabeth. Andrew Garfield isn't one to shy away from difficult roles. Here he speaks with his British accent.

It's a good thing to be reminded about Polio amidst the recent debate whether or no to vaccinate.