Went and saw Breath yesterday. I read the book and grew up surfing in the 70's so a lot of the subject matter was familiar.

Wondering what other people thought about the movie.

I thought it was excellent and I'd put it up there with some of the great surfing movies. I thought the script, acting and filming was very good.. I like the way they kept you guessing about what was going to happen.
I liked the way they sent the message that there's no shame in saying 'no.. I'm too scared and don't feel right" about tackling waves or conditions that are too big or scary for them.
I think they captured the wave scenes perfectly and I'm sure a lot of people will be able to relate it with their early years of surfing foam surfboards and whole stoke of surfing waves when you were a kid.
Two thumbs up from me.. and worth seeing on the big screen.

Yep, wife and I saw it a couple of days ago, and really enjoyed it.
Wife is re-reading the book, and she says the film is very faithful to the text.
I lived in Denmark (where the story is set) for a while, so the waves and scenery were very familiar.
Tim Winton grew up in Albany and has surfed around there him self, so everything is indeed authentic.

The main difference is leaving the death of Eva out, she went a bit too far with the low oxygen sex in the book.
I think this makes the film a bit lighter, better for family viewing.

Also not having stand-ins for the main actors makes a difference, it's not actors trying to surf, it's surfers who can act.
Apparently it took a while to find the two young guys!

my bro bought tickets for our parents and Mum said its the "worst movie ever made, plot doesn't go anywhere" I laughed

Probably a minority opinion, but I didn't like the book...

In the book, I loved the surfing imagery. It lost me with the erotic asphyxiation. The ending was a dud.

I quite liked the movie but I found a barrier to really enjoying it. It didn't grip me.

The surfer dudes were very authentic and a lot of the lines and mannerisms were spot on.

What seemed odd is that it felt like they were going through a check list of young 70's surfer dude. George Greenough haircut. Check. Dopey kid saying dopey things. Check. Woolly jumpers and beanies. Check. Bong smoking surfer missus. Check. etc etc. Sometimes lines were said and it seemed like it was just to include the line because it was part of the stereotype.

I was amused by the mum and dad in the movie. They did lots of generic mum and dad things for no apparent reason. That made me laugh.

The film completely left out the ending of the book, which is a good thing.

I agree with DJ about the no shame in saying 'no.. ...' thing., and also, the movie hammered home the idea that it's ok to be "ordinary", whatever that is.

Select to expand quote

decrepit said..
Yep, wife and I saw it a couple of days ago, and really enjoyed it.
Wife is re-reading the book, and she says the film is very faithful to the text.
I lived in Denmark (where the story is set) for a while, so the waves and scenery were very familiar.
Tim Winton grew up in Albany and has surfed around there him self, so everything is indeed authentic.

The main difference is leaving the death of Eva out, she went a bit too far with the low oxygen sex in the book.
I think this makes the film a bit lighter, better for family viewing.

Also not having stand-ins for the main actors makes a difference, it's not actors trying to surf, it's surfers who can act.
Apparently it took a while to find the two young guys!

Spoiler alert Decrepit!!
Does it turn out that Darth Vader is the young guys father?

great book , one of the best ever reads , havent seen the flick