Breathe In
In 2011 romantic drama Like Crazy hit our screens courtesy of Drake Doremus. This independent sleepy hit starred Anton Yelchin and Felicity Jones as two love struck college student who are torn apart by visas and the Atlantic Ocean. It was hailed as a good drama that is lightweight and easy to swallow, with two impressive leads. If you were a fan of Like Crazy then luckily Doremus and Jones have teamed up again to bring you another slice of intense drama with the sublime Breathe In.
With Guy Pearce filling in the opposite roll to Jones, Breathe In is a better more developed film than Like Crazy. Keith is a musician whose life has forced him to become a teacher. Underhandedly degraded by his wife in his passion, his life has become tiresome. However, when exchange student and piano prodigy Sophie comes to stay, he finds his life and heart flipped over, causing a disruption to his life.
What Doremus conducts here is a sweeping drama that takes away much of the dialogue and action here. Instead, the film relies on intimacy, expressions and tenderness to convey the boil of emotions underneath our characters. Doremus, in place of words, layers the tension between our lead roles with the infusion of classic music and enhancing even the most quiet of sounds. Each moment is a visionary and auditory delight as we are invited into a close relationship that uses slight touches, a drag of the eyes and their musical connection to show their attraction. Affair is a loose term here; no actual sex is seen but that need for a kindred spirit while floating in unplanned normality, adds to the tension and the drama.
Breathe In could easily descend into the tedium and for those that need too much chatter or explosions to be entertained. Instead, Breathe In illicit its power from two extremely strong performances. Pearce, here as Keith, gives us a stunning performance as a man whose life has become stale. When Sophie appears and his interest and passion is sparked, Pearce infuses Keith with underlying interest and silent complication that sits on each breath he takes. Felicity Jones is outstanding as Sophie. Here as Doremus’ muse, her aesthetic beauty and maturity lines our female protagonist with troubled history and frustration. When the two collide, sparks fly around and into the audience, burying their fire under the skin. And the burn make is unforgettable.
Breathe In does skim over our supporting characters with no real exploration into Keith’s wife and daughter. The heaviness is weighted too much on our leads stillness and the visual exquisiteness, meaning that it takes a while to grip. That being said, when it does grip, it doesn’t let go. It is a stutter in the breath and a skip of the heart beat that you find impossible to forget, reshaping your own emotions and feelings in an enthralling melody.
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