In the Same Breath (2021)

(On Cable TV, September 2021) Here we are now — almost exactly a year and a half in these pandemic times, and merely starting to understand what is going on. Documentary feature In the Same Breath audaciously takes us back to the very beginning — those first few months of 2020, at Ground Zero Wuhan. Writer-director Nanfu Wang, drawing upon her own experience being in Wuhan at the time, assembles footage shot by a guerilla crew of associates for a look at the situation that exposes the differences between what they saw and the rhetoric issued from the Chinese government. Wang can be merciless in showing how news reports were manipulated and orchestrated to present a misleading portrait — and then compares the lack of Chinese freedom with the excesses of American freedom. This isn’t just a “both sides” thing — it’s a surprisingly cogent argument about the failings of both systems, each seemingly different but not completely dissimilar. (I’m not completely on-board with her centralization argument, but then again, I’m Canadian.)  Even for those who overdosed early on COVID news, In the Same Breath offers a fascinating look at where it all began, with some very effective editing of news reporting (all repeating the same points)) along the way. It spans the political and the personal, and offers plenty of lessons. Surprisingly good cinematography also helps. Making the point that politicization ruins everything isn’t the biggest of insights, but the way Wang goes about showing it may catch you off-guard.