This film tells the story of a man who lost his faith in God after experiencing a painful loss.
This was a really good one!
In the spirit of transparency, let me start by saying this film is not entertaining, so if you are looking for entertainment, it’s probably not the one for you. Also, if you have been following for a while, you should know I hate sad endings and this movie is sad sad sad, but take it from me when I say the impact was profound anyway and it wouldn’t have worked any other way.
So what did I like?
I loved the beginning, i was intrigued right from the start.
I enjoyed the simplicity of the story and the compelling progression of the movie.
It movingly explores themes of loss, pain, love and sacrifice. While it’s faith-based, I hesitate to label it a Christian movie, as it was not the typical story about redemption and salvation. I liked the angle they explored and how he found his way back to God…amazing storytelling.
Acting and casting worked perfectly. Ademola Adedoyin as the Young Timi and Wale Ojo as the Old Timi was a combination I could not have imagined, but after seeing it, it made sense a lot of sense. Ademola Adedoyin was able to interpret and embody the role of young Timi, I could feel his despair and agony as he dealt with the loss that rocked his world and from Wale Ojo, I could feel that bitterness and cynicism that comes with living with so much hurt for so long. We saw Eku Edewor just a few times in this film but I really liked her performance. Chimezie Imo did an amazing job as Elijah and Genoveva Umeh was just perfect as Anna
( Meanwhile- Genoveva is soooo pretty).
Watching the richly nuanced performances from all them was a delight.
I liked Elijah and Anna’s love story, I liked the fact that they gave us likeable characters, we felt their pain, we were invested in the story and we were rooting for them. When they were about to have sex, I was shouting “ahhh pastor!”
I think what I loved the most about this movie was the production quality. Right from the beginning, everything looked crisp and sharp. I liked the setting, the set pieces, cinematography was on point. Watching the movie Breath of life was a visual pleasure.
I liked the soundtracks, the selection was very intentional, every song matched the tone of the movie, they caught my attention but they were not distracting. I checked some of them out after the movie. (Shoemaker by 121Selah has been on repeat for me). Plot progression was good to a very large extent. Towards the end, I knew what he was going to do, I hated that he had to die, I hated that he lived such a sad and painful life but I knew that was the logical and befitting ending for this movie.
This movie touched so many things but above all, it was a movie about PURPOSE and unlike so many Nollywood movies, this movie will have an impact on you such that even after the closing credits, you’ll be thinking “what is my purpose? What is this life”?
Issues?
The Narration. I want to assume that the old man we saw at the beginning was Elijah and he was the one narrating but then my only thought was that since Elijah and Timi never got to talk about Timi’s family and how they died because it was off limit, the only things Elijah could have known were the bits and pieces from rumours in the community and some things he found in the house…..how was he able to narrate in details everything that happened in Timi’s life, about Timi’s family and the incident when he never heard the story from Timi?
Personally, I felt like the moment Elijah narrated everything that happened to Timi at the beginning of the movie, it cut off any possibility of suspense.
Do you think it would have been more powerful if we only got hints at the beginning and we found out the full story somewhere in the middle? Do you think it would’ve been more earth-shatteringly sad to hear Timi share his story, his loss and his pain by himself with Elijah (and the audience) after he had come to love and trust him as opposed to us hearing the bland, unaffected and detached narration from Elijah at the beginning…… of course i’m just speculating, I know they had a few interactions but it really was not deep enough to justify the jump from calling him “boy” to son and even adopting him. A situation where he shared his story would have helped them bond more, made the relationship more plausible, made the whole story even more compelling.
Moving on, I did not like the conflict about the church building and the 49million, it was a little weak in my opinion… a stretch. At that point they lost me for a little bit because it seemed like unnecessary drama and I was getting bored. A lot happened at that point in the movie that I did not agree with if i’m being honest.
Despite the above stated issues, the final act more than compensated for this lag. Because, believe me when I say regardless of the state of your heart(perhaps it is made of concrete), the way they concluded this movie is guaranteed to touch you in a deeply emotional way
I did not like the conflict about the church building and the 49million, it was a little weak in my opinion… a stretch. At that point they lost me for a little bit because it seemed like unnecessary drama and I was getting bored. I particularly did not like the fact that Anna was screaming at Timi, almost like they forgot that the only reason they were facing that problem was because of Anna’s father.
Despite the above stated issues, the final act more than compensated for this lag because believe me when I say regardless of the state of your heart(perhaps it is made of concrete), this movie is guaranteed to touch you in a deeply emotional way
Note: This movie was written and directed by BB Sasore and he did an amazing job!
Overall, breath of life was a breath of fresh air., it is more emotionally sobering than stirring but still this might be one of the most heart wrenching and absorbing exploration of faith, loss and love that I have seen in a while.
My Rating: 8.5/10
Have you seen the movie, please share your thoughts with us in the comments below
Read the review of Blood Vessel here.
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