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In one of the most crowded cities in the world, it’s easy to focus on the challenges faced by the millions of people who live there. But the Oscar-nominated documentary All That Breathes turns its attention to a predator that soars above the city—and on the men who’ve spent their lives caring for them.
All That Breathes follows two brothers from New Delhi who have devoted their lives to caring for the black kite, a bird of prey that’s struggling to survive in the city’s increasingly polluted skies. While social and political tensions are growing on the streets outside their home, the brothers care for the birds in a tiny makeshift hospital in their basement. But as living conditions worsen for the people and the animals who share the noisy, bustling city, the brothers’ frustrations grow along with their work load, as more and more birds are falling from the skies.
Instead of using interviews and narration to tell a story, the filmmakers simply allow the story to happen, using the sights and sounds of the city and the family’s conversations to convey the drama and the tension of the brothers’ experiences. Though the brothers do occasionally share their perspectives on their lives and their mission, they spend more time just going about their day, having conversations about their work or about things like nuclear war or professional wrestling matches.
The filmmaking often focuses on the atmosphere—on the comings and goings of the rats and cows and monkeys that share the city with its human residents, on the darkness of the brothers’ tiny basement hospital, of their cramped living space. Outside, it’s busy and dirty and noisy—and it’s captured so well that you can almost smell the polluted air. Inside, the brothers battle power outages and overflowing sewers to care for more and more of these majestic but suffering birds.
All That Breathes isn’t loaded with action. It’s not talkative or busy. In fact, despite the protests and the noise of the city, the brothers’ heads-down focus on their work makes the film feel almost quiet and peaceful—such a surprising yet strangely beautiful contrast to the growing unrest outside their door.
While most of the Award Season attention typically goes to the big-name features and their stars, it’s been a remarkable year for documentaries. All That Breathes is more atmospheric than the typical fact-filled documentary, but while that sometimes makes it feel slow and deliberate, it also makes it beautiful and memorable.
All That Breathes makes its debut on HBO and HBO Max on February 10, 2023.
Listen to the review on Reel Discovery:
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