Au plus profond

I watched this with feelings of awe, fear and that captivating feel you inly get from underwater cinematography. However. It missed the emphasis of the final message. A true act of limits and daring, for sure, but the emphasis of how dangerous Allessia is, to herself and her safety crew was wholly diluted. Portrayed as a heroine. What she did was selfish, I felt no element of compassion or others safety. I was left feeling that he passed purely down to her own actions and nothing more. He clearly had very strong feelings which impaired his actions, ibfelt she did nothing to try to help him and only focused on her achievements. Such a sad loss.

I just don't get it What is the point? What are these people trying to prove? Insecurity? Ego? Inferiority complex? What is the purpose of all this if you are going to shorten your life in half and die in the process? To have your name written in a records book that nobody cares? Imagine having one single opportunity of living your life on planet earth Imagine being able to live a long and healthy life full of experiences Imagine being able to become a parent Now imagine throwing all of this away and cease to exist in the dumbest way For what really?? A complete disrespect for life. What a waste and how sad.

Free diving is probably the most pointless sport I've come across so there is a huge merit in making a documentary about it which is this watchable. During this docco, we see divers putting themselves in danger and putting the safety divers in danger all the time. Among all, Alessia is the most dislikable character as she selfishly and routinely puts herself in danger doing these dangerous dives knowing full well she wasn't prepared for it. At the same time, her charismatic boyfriend loved by all the community is portrayed as this life saving angel who would give his life to safe someone else. The doc reaches its pinnacle when in one of this expected accidents, he dies saving her. Tragic as it is that a great guy lost his life it's difficult to feel sympathy for this people and their sport .

DISCLAIMER: Until recently, I used to be a very active freediver, an occasional safety diver and instructor. I am familiar with the tragedy that happened at Dahab. I forgot why I really, REALLY dislike Alessia Zecchini. Actually, I can't stand her. My entire body sounds off major alarms I can only interpret as intuition: "This woman is bad news!" This documentary reminded me why. She's a head-strong brat who was so reckless as a freediver that it was bound she'd get someone killed. That just happened to be her good friend/coach/boyfriend Stephen Keenan. And now she's made a poor man's guilt-trip documentary that wants to pay homage to the man who saved her life by sacrificing his, but still somehow winds up focusing mostly on her and her freediving journey. The VERY FIRST scene is Alessia having a blackout right before surfacing from a deep dive. As a fellow freediver, I was deeply appaled and offended by this directorial decision, because it would be like a documentary about Ferrari that opens with a major car crash. Blackouts are not as common a thing at freediving competitions as this documentary would lead you to believe. And especially underwater blackouts are something that should be avoided at all costs! Responsible, capable, and upstanding freedivers know where their limit is and prepare beforehand so they do NOT put themselves and their safety divers at unnecessary risk. Alessia Zecchini is NOT one of those freedivers. So if the documentary wanted to portray the potential dangers of competitive freediving, Alessia Zecchini is one of the last (if not THE LAST) freedivers to talk. The Vertical Blue competition where Alessia had 3 blackouts one after the other was one of the most irresponsible things I've ever seen a freediver do at a competition. Putting herself in danger is one thing, but being so selfish to put her own petty goals over the safety of the safety crew is disgraceful. And a reckless, truly dangerous decision done in the utmost poorest of taste. I don't think Alessia feels her share of the responsibility for Stephen's death. I didn't think she did after the accident happened and - after seeing this documentary - I still don't think she does. But I think she should. "The Deepest Breath" is a disjointed documentary about competitive freediving à la Alessia Zecchini that tries to whitewash the fact that Alessia's approach to life was/perhaps still is to put herself and her ambitions first and disregard others. I'm truly sorry if I misjudged and miss-stepped, but I found way too many parts of "The Deepest Breath" a despickable, self-indulgent charade. 4 stars because the documentary does want to head into the right direction, at times with surprising candor. But it falls way short.

DISCLAIMER: Until recently, I used to be a very active freediver, an occasional safety diver and instructor. I am familiar with the tragedy that happened at Dahab. I forgot why I really, REALLY dislike Alessia Zecchini. Actually, I can't stand her. My entire body sounds off major alarms I can only interpret as intuition: "This woman is bad news!" This documentary reminded me why. She's a head-strong brat who was so reckless as a freediver that it was bound she'd get someone killed. That just happened to be her good friend/coach/boyfriend Stephen Keenan. And now she's made a poor man's guilt-trip documentary that wants to pay homage to the man who saved her life by sacrificing his, but still somehow winds up focusing mostly on her and her freediving journey. The VERY FIRST scene is Alessia having a blackout right before surfacing from a deep dive. As a fellow freediver, I was deeply appaled and offended by this directorial decision, because it would be like a documentary about Ferrari that opens with a major car crash. Blackouts are not as common a thing at freediving competitions as this documentary would lead you to believe. And especially underway blackouts are something that should be avoided at all costs! Responsible, capable, and upstanding freedivers know where their limit is and prepare beforehand so they do NOT put themselves and their safety divers at unnecessary risk. Alessia Zecchini is NOT one of those freedivers. So if the documentary wanted to portray the potential dangers of competitive freediving, Alessia Zecchini is one of the last (if not THE LAST) freedivers to talk. The Vertical Blue competition where Alessia had 3 blackouts one after the other was one of the most irresponsible things I've ever seen a freediver do at a competition. Putting herself in danger is one thing, but being so selfish to put her own petty goals over the safety of the safety crew is disgraceful. And a reckless, truly dangerous decision done in the utmost poorest of taste. I don't think Alessia feels her share of the responsibility for Stephen's death. I didn't think she did after the accident happened and - after seeing this documentary - I still don't think she does. But I think she should. "The Deepest Breath" is a disjointed documentary about competitive freediving à la Alessia Zecchini that tries to whitewash the fact that Alessia's approach to life was/perhaps still is to put herself and her ambitions first and disregard others. I'm truly sorry if I misjudged and miss-stepped, but I found way too many parts of "The Deepest Breath" a despickable, self-indulgent charade. 4 stars because the documentary does want to head into the right direction, at times with surprising candor. But it falls way short.