Breath of Life

Breath of Life, written and directed by BB Sasore (God Calling, Before 30) is technically a faith based movie about a Mr. Timi Johnson (Wale Ojo) who, for all intents and purposes, loses his religion after losing his family early in life. Many years later he hires a houseboy, Elijah (Chimezie Imo), and lets him into his home and the story follows how Elijah lets himself into Mr. Timi’s heart.

While it’s technically a faith based movie, it’s release in such close proximity to the Christmas holiday is truly justified when you think of all that this movie is and all that the holiday represents. The holiday represents warmth, family and a sense of home. All the things that are missing in Timi’s life before Elijah comes along. For a faith based movie, it is not the typical playbook. There is no singular when Jesus comes down and turns things around. It does not preach at you with its bible verses instead in the moments when they do show up they are seamlessly integrated into the progression of the storyline.

Breath of Life is all heart. And everybody on board is clear on this from page one. It is clear from the moments before the first scene as the transcendent music leads the audience visually and mentally into the state of mind required to appreciate this movie. It is clear in the turning point scene for Mr Timi with his family where the stunning cinematography does not ever try to trump the piercing music which does not ever try to trump the emotive actors who also never try to trump the ultimate message of the moment.

The fine orchestra of all the parts in this movie are only ever dwarfed by the fine writing of the story. Granted, it is not the most groundbreaking of penmanship or the most original of storylines, infact little elements like the daily chess moves between Elijah and Mr. Timi are very clearly lifted from other international works. However, it works. Be it the chess game or the moments in the turning point scene with a car on fire. Here, Mrs Johnson (Eku Edewor), who confronted with the reality of her impending death, still manages to prioritize her daughter and calms herself enough to still shield her as best as she can. These little moments might be taken for granted if they happen only once or twice in the movie, but time and time again the writer makes clear that the point is not simply to approach each scene and event in the typical nollywood writing fashion but instead to instill a little bit of heart that shines right back to the ultimate message of the film.

A film like this would figuratively crash and burn (no pun intended) without the strength of its actors. From Wale Ojo who reveals his prowess within every scene, especially with long and powerful monologues, to Genoveva Umeh (Anna) who is everything her character needs to be and to the exact extent that is needed of her in every single scene. Then there’s Chimezie Imo whose entire career journey is just such a joy to watch blossom and manifest especially at the bus-stop of this movie. Somewhere between his shakes and his eyes, he is able to beautifully capture this scared and hesitant young man who still manages to be daring in his own way.

However, it is not all positives. One character that doesn’t quite settle as well as the others is that of Baby Fire (Sambasa Nzeribe). Something about either the way he is written or the way that he is portrayed with the tics make him seem a bit too carricatur-ish to be taken seriously. The excessive laughter when killing seems a bit like a forced attempt to be like villains from other films. Then there is the sound dubbing. In all the scenes where Elijah’s character needs his infamous inhaler, the sound of him gasping for air is never done to sound natural. It always sounds very clearly like a sound that was haphazardly added in post-production.

Despite these, together Chimezie and Wale go scene by scene interlacing a fabric of connections and heart that will have the audience blushing and crying from scene to scene where appropriate. I say, Breath of Life is the perfect Christmas movie for these reasons and the final special mention to the late Karibi Fubara (God Calling) really sends the underlying message of what a gift the Breath of Life truly is and just how much it should not be taken for granted.

Breath of Life Full Soundtrack

Watch the full movie online by clicking HERE