At this moment it doesn’t appear as though this era really belongs to any one type of movie. Action and comic book movies are definitely prominent, as are scifi films, but films based on true stories seem to be making a serious comeback as well. The film Breathe is a good example as Andrew Garfield looks to be searching for another Oscar nomination for his brilliance and might just get it.
Based on the true story of Robin Francis Cavendish, a man struck with polio when he was in his late 20’s, the film Breathe is one more testament to the ingenuity and denial of fate by mankind. Some might say it’s a bit arrogant in its thinking but then one would also have to admit that defying death and fighting for every last breath is a part of what helps to define humanity.
After being given only three months to live Cavendish was at some point ready to give up, but his wife would not allow this, stating that he had to live for their child, to see their boy grow up and become the man he’d once been and still was. Thanks to this, in part, Cavendish soon enough became a very fierce advocate for those that were paralyzed and kept in hospitals to wait out the life sentence that had been handed down by doctors. Thanks to a mechanical breathing machine he was able to survive from day to day as the machine essentially breathed for him.
Some people might wonder how such a thing was possible back then but considering that he was in his late twenties in the 1950’s it’s not too hard to imagine that the inventive spirit was just beginning to peak before it hit a serious resurgence, particularly in the medical field. Up until a certain point polio was a very serious disease that could cripple and even kill people on occasion, but Cavendish was fortunate enough to have a wife and other supporters that were not so eager to let him go.
Despair nearly undid him as he attempted to gain a semblance of life back, but the continued support of his wife and friends was obviously enough to convince him that life was not yet over. He had so much more to live for and proved it by becoming the man he was and the voice of those that could no longer do for themselves. This is bound to be a dramatic, feelgood movie that is still quite sad but also triumphant. Garfield will no doubt be looking for another nomination after this role, which will test him as surely as previous roles have.
The good thing is that he’s obviously up to the challenge. He’s been in some spectacular movies and some spectacularly bad ones and he’s usually come out as one of the better parts of the movie. In this film he has a chance once again to be inspirational and show people that he’s not just a fluke when it comes to an Oscar nomination.
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