Don't Forget to Breathe - Depicts the deep relationship between brothers in a new perspective.

The majority of films that depict the relationship between brothers would be masculine and robust naturally. They reflect real sibling relationships but feel a bit dull in terms of diversity. However "Ne pozabi dihati", the third feature film from promising Slovenian filmmaker Martin Turk, is an earnest attempt to update the conventional framework of films about brothers.

The film's protagonist is a 15-year-old boy named Klemen (Matija Valant). He is a promising tennis player, but most of all he loves his older brother, Peter (Tine Ugrin) and the time with him, They are always together wherever they go and the bond seems to be hard to break. First of all, the film painstakingly depicts the daily life of Kremen. For example, we see two of them ride along the wheat field on Peter's motorcycle, eat dinner with their mother Alma (Iva Krajnc), and practice to drive a car with their estranged father Milo (Nikola Djuricko). Such trivial everyday life is narrated with deep compassion.

What catches the audience's eye here is the beauty of the Slovenian countryside, shot by the director of photography Radislav Jovanov Gonzo. It is always full of orange like dusk, which shows us eloquently how abundant the summer here is.

To tell the truth, I've seen Turk's two earlier features as well, but I wasn't too impressed with them. Arcaneness in "Nahrani me z besedami", his debut feature film, and simplicity in "Dobar dan za posao," the second feature film, are so extreme that it depends too much on the audience in a bad way. But as you can see from the vivid cinematography, this film is an improvement from its predecessors. The freshness of the landscapes speaks about the director's sharpened resolution to reality. His eye is extremely clear, and there is a richness of vision that captivates the viewer, transcending the too-much arcaneness and simplicity of his previous films. You can certainly feel that the landscape the director is looking at is different from what he's seen before.

Contrary to Clement's wishes, his daily life changes little by little. Alma finds a new lover, and at the same time, Peter also has a relationship with Sonya (Klara Kuk). Peter is obsessed with her, and because of this, Kremen finds himself gradually spending less and less time with his brother, and he becomes lonely. He has friends at his age, but something, which is not fulfilled by that, stagnates in his heart.

And this film gets closer to Clemen's swirling frustration. He is a very quiet boy who can't express himself well. Hence, he is unable to understand the rough waves that exist in his heart. This leads him to hurt others by not saying anything, frustrated.

In the midst of all this, he has a strange interaction with Sonya. At first, he only sees Sonya and Peter kiss from a distance, but at one point, Klemen meets her in a bath. While witnessing their nakedness, Klemen is taught by Sonya about kissing and how to make a girlfriend. It's something bittersweet apparently, yet there's a faint feeling of hatred on Kremen's face. It's as if she has taken his brother away from him.

Furthermore, Klemen's subtle feelings for his brother are also impressive. At first, it seems like brotherly love. Nevertheless, as we see his quiet but passionate obsession, we see that he may have more feelings for his brother than that. In other words, it is a kind of homosexual feelings. In this film, we are not given any words to describe these undifferentiated feelings. But that's exactly why there is such a richness in Klemen's personality.

Turk's gaze is extremely sincere. He doesn't attempt to give concrete answers to ambiguity. He tries to present ambiguity ambiguously. The key to this film is the soft emergence of beauty and complexity of human psychology which transcends words. And then there's the moment when Klemen's frustration and anger reach its zenith, and it's full of quiet wonder. It is. This is where the emotions of the characters come together to create a heartbreaking scene. "Ne pozabi dihati" is a beautiful film which depicts the relationship between brothers in a new perspective.

Source: Z-SQUAD / Tettyo Saito