Today, I am really excited, because I get to make a video that actually makes use of my degree.

Remember from my Silver Play Box

Button Unboxing I have a degree!

I do. It took me five years of struggle, health issues, and literally almost dying.

Literally. To complete it, so I am--I'm rather proud.

Film and Screen Studies

I have that.

Speaking of which, the wonderful people at Sony sent me a copy of their latest release

'Breathe,' which is out now on Blu-Ray and DVD.

Just in time for Mother's Day.

Hi, ma.

It's a beautiful love story

involving disability and gorgeous clothes.

I was really intending on making a review

purely about the period clothing in the film and the gorgeous dresses.

There are a lot of gorgeous dresses [?]

But then I just sort of got swept away in the love story instead

so I want to share that with you.

OK, but first, back to fashion.

It's really interesting, but most people don't realise how much thought and planning

goes into absolutely everything you see on screen.

The actors don't just happen to be wearing those outfits.

It's not like in the costuming department that day it was just the thing at the front of the rack.

Months, or sometimes even years,

go into planning the colours a character wears; the cuts of their clothing;

the style; the way that they wear them, even.

Even if you don't consciously realise it,

you will subconsciously be picking up on these tiny little visual cues.

For a very easy example:

there is an evil corporation

Their colour is blue.

Their logo is blue. Everyone who works for them wears shades of blue

or white, or green or something

and then we meet a character

who works for the company and is wearing a warm colour.

Say they're wearing a yellow shirt under their blue suit.

And what that tells us

is that we can start to trust this person.

That, probably, we're gonna find out by the end

that they were working against the company from the inside

all along.

I also think I wanted to make this video about the fashion

to begin with, because I was a little scared of the story.

I just feel, as a disabled person,

I have been let down one too many times

by "disability films."

Films which are either 'disabled person inspires able-bodied person, but is essentially a lamp'

or 'disabled person is mean and grumpy; able-bodied person teaches them

to live.'

My whole channel is dedicated to showing you can have disabilities and still live

and still love, and still have fun.

Honestly, I was shocked to find that 'Breathe' had the same message.

I think the moments I cried most

- because you know I cry at the opening of a crisp packet -

were the--the happy moments, actually.

The moments where he's just living life

and...enjoying it.

Not just the kind of sad moments where you're supposed to cry

because I was darn right joyous

to see that happy disabled representation.

'Breathe' is the truth life story of Robin Cavendish, played by Andrew Garfield.

He's a swashbuckling British army vet

turned tea broker

who, in 1957,

sweeps the beautiful but headstrong Diana Blacker off her feet

and takes her to Africa!

I know, it sounds super dramatic

but I think...it is quite.

Brief pause, actually, to say that Diana, played by Claire Foy,

is a marvel and I would like to see more of her character.

Someone who sees trauma and is just pretty laid back about it.

I think I probably like her because she reminds me of my life.

Robin then falls ill due to polio and becomes completely paralysed from the neck down.

Unable even to breathe for himself.

At that time, all disabled people - or severely disabled people, at least -

were confined to hospitals.

There was no other option, you just lived in a hospital.

And he's on a ventilation machine as well, which means that

he needs the machine to breathe for him.

The machine is only available in hospital.

That is it.

So, of course, he becomes very depressed

and his life is so mundane and he doesn't see any way out,

and he just wants to die.

Diana is not having that!

She is not allowing her husband to get depressed

and instead together they devise a glorious plan

to break him out of hospital.

Truly, it is ruddy glorious.

Along with his friend, Teddy Hall, who (side note)

dated the Turin Shroud and basically started carbon dating

(amazing),

Robin events a groundbreaking wheelchair that is both a ventilation machine

and a way to get around.

Which paves the way for polio victims

and physically impaired people around the world

to be able to lead fuller lives and actually leave the bloody hospital.

Along the way, they have amazing adventures;

break absolutely every rule in the rule book;

and just generally do kind of what I like to do in life

which is, "Well, why the Hell not?"

Let's do it.

And they show that love has absolutely no boundaries.

And it's--it's very heartwarming.

I was expecting

another sad but mildly inspirational film,

but what I got was actually an action-packed comedy

with a lovely

love story of celebration and joy.

I can put that down to only one thing:

that Robin and Diana's son Jonathan is actually executive producer of this film

which is amazing.

It's basically a love letter

to his parents.

It's really clear that their spirits and their humour that we see within the film

also makes up part of the film-making process

and Andy Serkis, who's the director (who's also an actor),

he really brings them to life

as part of that film-making process.

Yes, there is the odd tear-jerking moment, of course,

but it's also beautifully funny

which is why I will be sending a copy to my mother for Mother's Day.

Hi, mother.

Because that is just the type of film we like to watch together.

We want to cry, but we also want to laugh a little bit.

We also enjoy pointing out beautiful costuming, so let's get back to that.

One of the best things about a drama that spans multiple decades

is how you can see the characters grow and change and develop

through how their style changes within or without the fashions.

Do they stay true to the elements they begin with?

Do they have the 1950s look of big skirts and [?] waists

all the way through to the '90s?

Or do they change and grow?

I was really pleased to watch Diana's transformation in this film

even though clearly I really prefer the fashion that she has at the start.

But it says so much about her character.

When we first see her, she's in this very demure and flowery 1950s frock

which I would very much like to own,

because it's a beautiful dress.

We only know that she's an exciting person

from her facial expressions

and the things people say around her.

So she has like a little quirk of the eyebrows, like, "Oh, she's a bit of a heart breaker."

And that's the only way that we know that there's anything really special about her.

As the film changes,

her hair and fashions change perfectly

with the styles of the day.

So she's got slimmer lines in the 60s,

then she's got the massive trousers in the '70s

and sort of this extraordinary 80s hair, which...

I mean, it's not great, but...

I get it.

And from that we can really see that her style stays young.

She's a revolutionary.

Changing; staying young; fashionable. Always...

with that spirit.

I'm a 1950s girl.

Obviously.

So my favourite outfit of hers has to be the pale blue dress that she's wearing

at a dance with Robin, and you'll notice it's just a little--a little risque of the shoulders.

It's very nice. I would like that dress.

I have a similar dress.

But I still want that dress .

I also really like her print dress from the car ride when she tells Robin that she's pregnant.

Interesting point: that dress is cream,

although it has patterns on it, and cream is basically her signature colour.

She wears it an awful lot throughout the film

in the different styles

and she wears cream, but then she does or says something

that's kind of daring and shocking.

Colour in film can be a signifier, but it can also be a contrary one.

We're expecting the girl in cream

to be soft and mumsy and a bit demure

so we're even more shocked when she breaks the rules than we would be were the girl in red

to be doing it.

Period costume, especially,

is alive with symbolism.

Like how much flesh is on show.

So, in that blue dress, for example.

The layers of undergarments; the fabrics used - a lot of her dresses at the start are very...

stiff.

All the fabrics are very stiff, which sort of belies her...

her inner strength.

Inner core.

She looks very pretty on the outside, but she's strong.

Sadly, both Robin and Diana

strictly adhere to the dress code of the very chic and elegant

cricket club where we first see them

and the Upper Class [?] of the day,

but! By the time we get to the 70s, they are really cool.

I don't get 70s fashion.

But I can appreciate it.

I suppose.

From elegance and sweetness and romance

to striking out on their own when the world tells them that they can't do it

to then mopping up blood in the middle of the night but still being able to have a little joke about it

they don't so much go through a transformation throughout the film,

as just hold to the core of who they are,

and I think in some ways that can be a greater story

than were a person to change.

They throw wonderful parties throughout the film

and it is inspiring, it really is.

It's not, you know, inspiration [?], disability stuff -

no, it's generally inspiring.

I mean, and isn't that what we all want to do when the world goes to pot?

Just sort of throw your hands up and say, "Screw it!"

"Gonna make the best of it; let's get drunk."

Personally, I can't drink.

So... But I get the feeling!

This film isn't just about two very privileged people - because they are quite privileged -

They clearly have the cash.

Managing to make their way through the world super easily because they just adjust to their new realism.

It's about how...

they recharge their shared...romantic soul

and just sort of turned a challenge into an exuberant quest

and adventure

that then went on to actually better the lives of many other people, besides themselves.

And we see in the film when Robin has his new wheelchair,

and then they go and they get money from--oh, God, this is just the best cameo you've ever seen.

It's so good.

I love that scene

So, he's got his new wheelchair and he needs money, and he gets money for

other people so that they can finally get out of hospital, too.

One of the best things about his film -

and I think something that makes a very tricky life -

is that he doesn't have that 'oh yay, magical cure' moment.

Instead, it's like, "God, you know what? Yes, this sucks."

"This really sucks."

"What can you do, really? What can you do but accept yourself

and just get on with it?"

He doesn't; he has to find that strength within himself,

which is beautiful.

And he does it all with the most stylish of dignities.

I hope you've enjoyed this little review.