Breathe breathes new life into a well-worn formula.
Breathe
Grade: B
Director: Melanie Laurent (The Adopted)
Screenplay: Laurent, Julien Lambroschini (from Anne-Sophie Brasme novel).
Cast: Josephine Japy (My Way), Lou de Laage (The Wait)
Rating: NR
Runtime: 91 min.
by John DeSando
Mean Girls, My Summer of Love, and many other like films have covered well the lesbian coming-of-age film. Breathe, a knowing but ultimately clichéd version of that genre, is a classy take on the angst of being a teen girl at anytime and anyplace.
Almost 18-year old Charlie (Josephine Japy) falls for class newcomer, charismatic Sarah (Lou de Laage), but Charlie has a challenging time catching her elusive, sexy girlfriend. The beauty of the film is the gentle way director Melanie Laurent treats the roiling passions of youth—an obvious thematic element as the teacher at the beginning of the film lectures about the downside of excessive passion.
The dull, washed-out landscape mirrors the depressing state of the working class and teen emotional adjustments. Shots such as Charlie wading into the water and looking at the horizon may be formulaic but nevertheless are a variation of the symbolic language a part of this emotional teen overdrive: She is in water potentially over her head, and she can only guess at the events’ future implications.
Charlie and Sarah’s kiss followed by a slap is spot on to suggest figuratively the ambivalent, volatile nature of early love, regardless of the orientation. As the title suggests, this stuff is normal heavy breathing for young folks. Breathe is a breath of fresh air in a formula well known for film and teens. Tennyson understood and embraced the passion:
“As tho’ to breathe were life.” Ulysses
John DeSando, a Los Angeles Press Club first-place winner for National Entertainment Journalism, hosts WCBE’s It’s Movie Time and co-hosts Cinema Classics. Contact him at JDeSando@Columbus.rr.com
