Andy Serkis’s directorial debut Breathe a tad too upbeat

REVIEW: Andy Serkis trades the motion capture suit for a period-piece love drama in his directorial debut Breathe, starring Andrew Garfield and The Crown’s Claire Foy.

LOVE triumphs over even the debilitating effects of polio in this inspirational period drama, based on real events.

The directorial debut of motion capture star Andy Serkis (The Lord Of the Rings, Planet Of the Apes) tells the story of Robin and Diana Cavendish (Andrew Garfield and Claire Foy).

Privileged, witty, adventurous, the couple meets over high tea at a cricket match in rural England circa 1958.

After a whirlwind romance, the beautiful aristocrat accompanies her dashing new husband to Kenya, where he works as a tea broker.

The Cavendishes are living the exotic life of the British expat in Africa to its fullest when 28-year-old Robin is struck down by the devastating disease in the middle of a social tennis match.

Paralysed from the neck down, and unable to breathe without a respirator, he falls into a deep depression.

But the heavily pregnant Diana doesn’t waver.

With her fierce and loyal support — which includes breaking her husband out of hospital — Robin defies the medical orthodoxy.

Claire Foy and Andrew Garfield star in Breathe.

Aiding and abetting the plucky couple is a group of British eccentrics, including Diana’s twin brothers (both played by Tom Hollander) and a gifted inventor (Hugh Bonneville) who eventually builds the wheelchair the “responaut” imagines.

Liberated from his bed, Robin spearheads a growing disability movement — and here the film includes a deeply disturbing image of a hospital in Germany where dozens of polio victims lie immobile in a tiered system of chambers.

This stark white hygienically sealed ward prolongs the patient’s life — but at what cost? Robin asks the doctors gathered at a specialist conference.

While Breathe touches upon the dramatic cultural changes Robin helped to bring about, however, his son and the film’s producer, John Cavendish, sees the story as primarily one of extraordinary love.

Serkis also keeps a tight focus on his characters resulting in performances that are uniformly strong.

Garfield employs the limited physical tools he has at his disposal to powerful effect. Foy (The Crown) applies the same poise — and reined-in emotion — she exhibited as the young Queen Elizabeth to deal with Diana’s extremely challenging situation.

But Breathe’s romanticised, relentlessly upbeat version of events ultimately does the couple a great disservice.

The survival of the Cavendish’s 36-year relationship would have appeared all the more remarkable had the filmmakers shown the moments when Diana’s 24/7 commitment tested her to the limit, as it must surely have done.

The warts-and-all version would have been a far more fitting tribute to such a courageous pair of trailblazers.

Breathe opens on Boxing Day. Advance screenings this weekend.

BREATHE (M)

Three stars

Director: Andy Serkis

Starring: Andrew Garfield, Claire Foy, Hugh Bonneville

Running time: 118 minutes

Verdict: Inspirational romance fails to exhale

Originally published as Andy Serkis’s directorial debut Breathe a tad too upbeat