Breath

One other reviewer writes:

"A particularly insipid example is early in the film the two teenagers get around on under-sized kid's BMX bicycles........." If it is the bikes I saw, they are not 'BMXs, they are classic 70s 'Dragsters" , in Australia often Malvern Star or 'Sportsworld' brand, banana seat,sissy-bar, 3 speed Sturmey gears. They actually would have obtained those bikes as authentic 1970s props. They are sort of the cycling equivalent of Pet Rocks.They are not out of place for the boys in film to be riding, I did not trade mine in until I hit 15 or 16yo.

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.

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.

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 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.