The first shot of “All That Breathes” explores a clearing at night, chasing mice and stray dogs through puddles and piles of garbage. Your instinct may be to escape the hustle and bustle of the city, but the image has a quiet, enthusiastic attention to it that suggests a different response. Even in the crowded boulevards and congested neighborhoods of big cities, we are closer to the wilds of nature than we can imagine.
The three main human characters in Shaunak Sen’s film have devoted their lives to caring for the fly, a bird of prey that is as unloved in Delhi as carrion-scavenging rodents and dogs. Injured kites and other birds of prey were excluded from the local aviary hospital for not being vegetarian, and Thorpe he ended up at Wildlife His Rescue, a small clinic that doubled as a dispenser assembly workshop. There, brothers Nadeem his Shehzad and Mohammad Saud, brothers who founded Wildlife Rescue, are working with fellow Salik his Rehman to rehabilitate the birds until they can return to the sky.
Their work on behalf of kites was the subject of a New York Times article in 2020. The “All That Breathes” way of referring to that work is more impressionistic than reporting. While there is something inherently mystical about the interactions between birds and people, there is also something undeniably spiritual about Wildlife’s dedication to their rescue in his rescue.
There’s nothing dingy or creepy about this movie. Sen finds deeper implications by focusing on the everyday practice of rescuing a kite. In one charming scene, the men rescue an injured kite from a riverbank, cursing and complaining as they navigate a tricky, silly, and potentially dangerous situation. In most cases, the bird arrives in a cardboard box and is carried around the city by Salik or one of his brothers. When the kite recovers, it moves to the cage on the roof.
Wildlife Rescue is applying for grants to expand and modernize its operations, and some of “All That Breathes” face obstacles such as bureaucratic red tape, family strain and urban traffic. It tells a hopeful story of perseverance and tenacity when But then a wave of murderous sectarian violence swept through New Delhi. The causes of the upheaval and its aftermath, as well as the conflict between India’s Hindu nationalist government and India’s majority Muslim population, become part of the film’s atmosphere, like smog and noise.
Neither a nature documentary nor a political lecture, “All That Breathes” is a nuanced and haunting reflection on what it means to be human.
everything you breathe
Unrated. Running time: 1 hour 37 minutes. at the theater.