All That Breathes
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All That Breathes”, a film directed by Shaunak Sen is an Oscar Nominated film for the year of 2023. A film on kites, not the kites we as humans fly for enjoyment, but the natural bird “kite.” The film portrays a tale of two brothers who have given their full dedication in the care of these “Black Kites.”
The two Muslim brothers living in Delhi, in their homes, have created a bird hospital in their tiny little basement for the kites that they save on a daily basis from Delhi’s smog filled skies. They do this for a living, treating every injured kite in their vicinity. The two brothers gossiping about a nuclear bomb and an emergence of war in their funny tones adds to the essence of the film. The causality they maintain, even while treating the kites of their diseases or injuries as they gossip about the recent times, and how radiation might take over after a nuclear attack which would cause all humans to die and get infected. The younger brother asks at this time, that wont radiation affect the kites too, as the elder one replies yes, they will get infected too. The little talks between them as the story continues is really something that pulls us and keeps us engaged to know more.
There is a moment where they are passing by a sea, and hear about black kites flying around as a native lets them know. So, they notice a black kite in some kind of pain in the middle of the sea, and without thinking twice they dive into the water in their swim trunks to go and grab it back to safety. In doing so, they reach the kite but while returning, they struggle as their limbs start getting exhausted due to an immense amount of swimming. Finally, they reach the shore successfully after the utmost amount of effort completing the task at hand. Back to their apartment, into their basement they go to heal the bird of its troubles. Once again, the duo does not fail to amaze with their conversation about WWE, as they remember a fight between the Undertaker and Mankind, where they broke the steel cage from the top of the ring.
As the film progresses and we realize the brothers can’t take care of every kite around and their applications for foreign agency funding were getting rejected without any valid reason. It seems the scene is filling in as the brothers appear to be struggling financially slowly but they do not give up their treatment process, and soon it is time for one of them to leave for America from where he states to handle the accounting, filings etc. of the workload. They build an open cage for the kites to nest in. A sense of freedom to them, to stay or to go, but the motive being to save them from the Delhi skies.
The visualization of the film as the camera pans through the skies of Delhi and the sections of the sea views are pleasing to the eyes. The use of water to show the surroundings through reflections is done in an amazing way. The film takes into consideration the visuals extremely seriously. The moments with flies buzzing near the water, but the reflections panning the landscape of the Delhi transport is done beautifully. The film keeps on giving such visual treats as it progresses starting from aerial views of kites flying in the sky or immense scenic views.
Gaurav Dutta is a B.com graduate from Kolkata, schooling from St. Joseph’s College having a passion for writing since childhood. On the other hand, he also excels in the career of accounting and finance. A writer by his own choice, and aims to make a mark in the gaming industry through his coding abilities.
