The Air I Breathe (2007)

Director:

Jieho Lee

Writers (WGA):

Jieho Lee (written by) &
Bob DeRosa (written by)

Release Date:

13 December 2007 (Greece)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Romance | Thriller

Tagline:

Sometimes the things we can't change...end up changing us.

Plot:

A drama based on an ancient Chinese proverb that breaks life down into four emotional cornerstones: happiness, pleasure, sorrow and love. A businessman bets his life on a horse race; a gangster sees the future; a pop star falls prey to a crime boss; a doctor must save the love of his life.

Plot Keywords:

Gangster | Doctor | Pop Star | Horse | Horse Race

US TV Schedule:

Wed. Dec. 16

4:20 AM

TMC

Cast

Kevin Bacon	...	Love
Julie Delpy	...	Gina
Brendan Fraser	...	Pleasure
Andy Garcia	...	Fingers
Sarah Michelle Gellar	...	Sorrow
Clark Gregg	...	Henry
Emile Hirsch	...	Tony
Forest Whitaker	...	Happiness
Kelly Hu	...	Jiyoung
Evan Parke	...	Danny
Taylor Nichols	...	Sorrow's Father
Victor Rivers	...	Eddie
Cecilia Suárez	...	Allison
Todd Stashwick	...	Frank
Jon Bernthal	...	Interviewer

Also Known As:

Fragmentos del destino (Mexico)
Воздух, которым я дышу (Russia) [ru]
Akraies katastaseis (Greece) [el]
Cuatro vidas (Spain) [es]
Cuatro vidas y un destino (Armenia) (literal title) [hy]
Cuatro vidas y un destino (Argentina) [es]
Ligados Pelo Crime (Brazil) [pt]
O Ar Que Respiramos (Portugal) [pt]
The Air i breathe - Die Macht des Schicksals (Germany) (DVD title) [de]

MPAA:

Rated R for violence, language and some sexual content/nudity.

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

Mexico | USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Ireland:16 | USA:R | South Korea:18 | Philippines:R-13 (MTRCB) | Finland:K-15 | UK:15 | Australia:MA | Netherlands:16 | Singapore:M18 | Argentina:16

Filming Locations:

Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico

Company:

NALA Films

Trivia:

Mexican actress Claudia Soberón auditioned for a supporting role.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Pleasure gives Happiness the gun, the cut on his face has only one bandage shown, but in the rest of the movie there are two.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Happiness: I always wondered, when a butterfly leaves the safety of its cocoon, does it realize how beautiful it has become? Or does it still just see itself as a caterpillar?

Movie Connections:

Features Homo Faber (1991)

Soundtrack:

Los Mojados

Proof that Imitation is Mess, not Flattery

Outside of Forest Whitaker putting in another outstanding performance, the film reeks of imitation. How he ended up in this film would make a better film than this. It may be the case of another seemingly hot writer/director who has a good idea but fails to expand it beyond some notes.

This is why when it doesn't reek of imitation, it reeks of stupidity. It's not well thought out. If it were a smarter film, you might say it attempts to morph different aspects of great films into a single film. One might say that it's intelligent for a thriller/horror type film, but it's not.

It attempts to cover the stupidity by using a smart art technique of separating the film out of normal story continuity and then bringing it all back together again at the end by seeing an incident near the beginning from a different perspective. Outside of not screwing that up, the film fails completely.