Au plus profond

Just watched this.

I'm not a freediver, but as a rescue diver, I found this beautiful and intense, and I understand the feelings that moved Alessia and Stephen and many of the comments they made.

Also having been to Dahab, I know how beautiful, but also how dangerous it can be.

But I don't think you need to do any diving or love the sea at all to enjoy this story of living the moment and pushing your limits. At times stunning, at times anxiety-inducing, it's beautifully edited and it's a great story of two people finding their calling AND finding each other.

I ended the movie with a few tears and an even deeper appreciation for "carpe diem" and for the beauty of (and respect for) the ocean.

I strongly recommend it.

I often find myself deeply fascinated by people's passions, at the same time it sometimes frightens me the idea of how the obsession with passion can possibly be the end of you literally and figuratively. What does it really take to go after your passion? And how willing are you to sacrifice for it?

I watched this documentary without any knowledge of freediving or the story and it immediately grabbed my attention right from the opening scene, that itself kept me on the edge

It's such an interesting element of the story structure how stunning they capture the concept to be as an extreme sport, yet how dangerous of an endeavor it actually is. It shows you both sides of the athlete's obsession about it and the lengths they go for it, which leaves you questioning wanting to understand the depths of satisfaction beyond passion given their lives are at dangerous risks knowingly.

The cinematography was stunning, incredible archival footage! It takes you through the diver's journeys from top to underwater beautifully it's sometimes scary. The interviews were heartfelt and informative enough for you to understand a bit of the extreme sport, while at the same time, it maintained sensations and delivered emotionally making you feel for the tragedy and how their story intertwined in destiny.

This emotional documentary film dives deep, not only into the ocean, but also deep into our souls.

What does it mean to have the deepest kind of love? This film covers it in many ways, through real characters.

For a parent who deeply loves a child, it may be to set a child free to discover his/her true passions in life.

For any person who tries to find deep meaning in life, you may feel lost many times before you find your true calling.

For those of us who have experienced deep love, we are moved by the sacrifice and selflessness that has been given to us.

Searching for our deepest love, finding it, enjoying it, losing it...this film helps us understand the triumphs and tragedies of life, and in the end, hope. Because when you see the deepest kind of love, it's a celebration of the best aspects of humanity.

Another documentary, The Rescue (2021, National Geographic), evokes similar feelings and emotions.

The whole team that participated in this documentary, including the director, editor, music as well as all the real people...thank you for making this.

Where to begin. First, the biggest structural mistake in a documentary is to treat the audience as stupid. This documentary does that tremendously well. 10/10 for that.

It frames everything with a build up to a climax, only to bait and switch the climax on the assumption you dont know the story or you wouldnt look it up prior to watching. In this day and age its a cardinal sin to assume this. Its also why a documentary like Senna is one of the greats. Kapadia doesnt assume the audience is stupid and everyone knows the end, so its more about the journey. Here, its as though youre taken on one journey only to fall down a "lets pretend secret" trapdoor. 0/10.

Second main flaw is the main character isnt very likeable and that seems to be the case from start to finish. 0/10.

Otherwise it was well made. This is where the 5 marks came from.

Ps. What an utterly stupid activity.

From the first pictures of this documentary it is evident that something bad is about to happen. By careful editing the suspense of not knowing what or to whom it will happen is held up until the end. As a result the runtime of almost 2 hours felt more like one.

To my taste the documentary is trying a bit too hard emotionally in some scenes, but it works and I did care for most of the characters. While there is some sublime cinematography it feels partly out of place as the rest of the footage does not hold up. The subject matter itself might seem nonsensical to some and the character's true motivation a bit shallow - although sometimes that is all there is.