All That Breathes, a Sundance 2022 highlight, is a gorgeously-shot documentary about two brothers in New Delhi who have dedicated their lives to healing injured black kites.
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All That Breathes is a stunning portrait of two brothers, the men they work with, the city of New Delhi that they live in, and the rapidly polluting planet we all inhabit. It’s a film with an intimate scope that’s about so much more than it first appears to be. You might not know much about black kite birds going into All That Breathes, but you’ll leave this documentary caring deeply about them. Yet, this is no standard informational doc about ornithology.
Shaunak Sen’s film follows a pair of brothers, Mohammad Saud and Nadeem Shehzad, as well as their employees, particularly Salik Rehman, who run a makeshift bird hospital out of the brothers’ basement in New Delhi. Every day, they seek out black kites who have fallen from the polluted skies, or otherwise injured themselves, and nurse them back to health through surgery and other treatment. The safety of each and every kite is so important to them that, in one scene, we even see them risk their own health and safety to wade across a river and retrieve a single injured kite.
The brothers’ care for every living creature is beautiful to witness, and complemented by the stunning images that Sen and his three cinematographers (Ben Bernhard, Riju Das, Saumyanada Sahi) create. The film opens with an extended nighttime take of the camera, low to the ground, panning across a stretch of dirt covered with rats, who are silhouetted against the orange glow of street lamps. These creatures, often viewed as dirty, are beautifully lit here, and we’re allowed an unusual intimacy with them, as the camera is so close, and the sound design picks up even the light patter of their feet. This is followed by similarly tranquil shots of a black kite gliding through the sky and flies perched atop a puddle of water. Throughout All That Breathes, animals — from birds to insects — are given closeups that show them in their best light, and that last enough time for us to actually observe and respect these creatures, as the brothers do.
As well as encouraging empathy for all creatures great and small, All That Breathes is one of the most moving and effective films about climate change I’ve seen, situating the care of black kites amidst the ongoing climate crisis. As the most polluted city in the world, New Delhi’s skies are thick with pollutants that cause the kites to drop out of the sky at alarming rates. Yet the kites also essential to reducing waste in the city. Sen shows us towering piles of garbage, and we’re told that these piles would be even taller — sky high — if it weren’t for the kites who consume garbage. Caring for the kites is not just about empathy; it’s an important act of aiding the ongoing function of a collapsing ecosystem. And it’s getting harder and harder every day, as more kites are injured or made sick by pollution.
As one of the brothers muses in a poignant voiceover, what they’re doing is a small band aid over New Delhi’s gaping wounds. All That Breathes is bittersweet in how it depicts people who are trying valiantly to make the world a better place, even when they know that their actions, alone, are only a drop in the ocean. It’s inspiring at times, and deeply melancholy at others. The brothers experience triumphs, such as an influx of funding after The New York Times writes an article on them. But they also face constant setbacks as the climate worsens, and as the attitude toward Muslim families, like theirs in New Delhi, grows increasingly hostile and violent. To continue doing the good work they do means pushing through exhaustion, fear, and instability. It’s a parable that will resonate with anyone who has ever tried to be a force for good, even when it felt insignificant amidst a crumbling world.
This gorgeous, heartbreaking, moving documentary falters only in one area: dealing with the strain that the brothers’ all-consuming commitment to the birds has on their family. In particular, the basement used as the bird hospital is below Nadeem’s family home, where his wife, Tabassum, and their two children live. She feels like a bit of an unexplored character, although we sense her resigned dissatisfaction from the way she silently looks on at her husband. The film lets you know how Nadeem’s commitment to his work leaves little time for anything else in his life, including family; at one point, one of his children runs up to him asking for him to play with them, and he gently says that now isn’t the time. There’s a tender scene of him completing surgery on a kite late into the evening, only for Tabassum to insist she finish off the surgery for him. He resists for a moment, before sinking back in exhaustion. Moments like these give colour to their relationship, but they also hint to us enough about Tabassum — she knows how to heal the kites, too! — that it’s frustrating that we don’t learn more.
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