The Air I Breathe

2008 "The question is not whether we will die, but how we will live."
6.7| 1h35m| R| en
Details

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.

AD
AD

Watch Free for 30 Days

All Prime Video Movies and TV Shows. Cancel anytime. Watch Now

Trailers & Clips

Reviews

TrueJoshNight Truly Dreadful Film
Steineded How sad is this?
Kirandeep Yoder The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.
Mathilde the Guild Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.
alexander-s-petrov What is this I don't even ... I think it's pretty general, and nothing is wrong with the idea at all - vanity filmmaking is as legitimate as vanity publishing or printing out large posters of your girlfriend and hanging them on the walls in your house, but THAT ... what is that?Not only there is no plot whatsoever if you can call the random jumbling of events that; the whole setup makes as much sense as a drug-induced trip of lonely unpopular teenager whose mother's appetite for birth tourism landed him in a country where people couldn't pronounce his name right.A clairvoyant mobster apparently out of some manga series; a singer in an abusive relationship (hahaha a million times) with a gangster, then a stuttering bank employee and finally a doctor in a stone cold yakuza disposition - this may be material for a therapy session, and it certainly has no place on the big screen.I congratulate all involved on the effort and I feel sorry for the actors who got shanghai'd into this; at least the pay was right I hope.
KineticSeoul I really didn't know what to expect from this movie, never even heard of the director. But decided to check the movie out because of the casting and I must say it's a decent movie about the converging of destinies. And if you like movies that has something to do with the converging of destinies will probably enjoy this movie and there is four segments in this one. Some people claim this movie is a copy of "Pulp Fiction" I don't really think that is the case and the cross thread story line works pretty well although there really isn't much character development in each segment. Although the fast pacing can be a good thing cause it really doesn't get boring for the most part. The screenplay is the main negative aspect of this movie, it just all seemed like a dream because it just feels silly at times. It's a ambitious movie but it just doesn't feel like it got the job done right at times as well. The acting is done really well though even if few stood out more than the other, the script is decent so all in all it's worth checking out but nothing really breathtaking. The ending isn't amazing, but satisfying.6.9/10
TJiggy Co-writer/director Jieho Lee had four good enough stories to make four different films. He tried to be "daring" and shoved them all into the one movie. It didn't work; he dished out an hour-and-a-half of undeveloped plots and characters instead.I would have preferred it if Jieho Lee had just picked one of his main characters and made a whole film about them. The fact that he didn't is a pity because the standalone story lines are intriguing enough without being muddled in with such a gratuitous and improbable intertwining plot involving a bag of stolen money.I know 'The Air I Breathe' is highly concerned with the Chinese proverb about happiness, pleasure, sorrow and love. It should have been more concerned with the film making proverb about a beginning, middle and end.
Angelus2 If you're looking for a film with a typical 'Beginning, Middle and End'; look somewhere else, this is a film that is thought provoking and at times exciting...It focuses on four emotions. Happiness, Pleasure, Sorrow and Love. Each beautifully intertwined with the other, 'Happiness' is stuck in a dead end job with the same routine day in and day out; while 'Pleasure' is a local mob enforcer bringing pain to people, Sorrow is living the pop-star dream and Love is vying for the affections of an unrequited love.At times I cringed when Forest Whitaker unknowingly bet more than his life savings on one stupid race and then faced the wrath of 'Fingers' and loved the fight sequences of Pleasure as he demolished his enemies by looking into the future, sorrow wasn't very exciting at first but she grew on me...And love...was love...pathetic and heroic at the same time.I especially loved the scene were Whitaker tries to leap over the stairs with his little scooter...The cinematography during the scenes in the alley with Pleasure were stunning, showing a darker side to his world.Overall a brilliant film which is well acted and directed.