Reflecting on "All That Breathes"

The documentary mostly filmed in Dehli paints a bleak dystopian picture, one that is here today. In the squalor and refuse generated by countless humans, life finds a way to survive. This life takes the form of droves of city rats, expanses of mosquito ridden puddles, and numerous other creatures without sufficient wild space so that they live on the fringe and in the hidden corners of the toxic shambles of the human realm.

To be sure, the movie highlights the rise of a small, destitute wildlife rescue organization amidst all the profound complexity of a human cityscape. Despite political, religious and economic struggle, the organization's dedication accomplishes a tiny win for the migrating kites, birds not dissimilar from the red-tail hawks prolific in the American sprawl. The little victory of this small organization comes when they win government funding to build a slightly cleaner rehab hospital for its hundreds of injured and recovering wild birds. 

To analogize, it is but a tear on a human face covered with filth.

"All That Breathes" is the film that too few people will see. It is a glimpse into the destruction that humanity has effected upon a healthy, diverse living world. Yes, some life will adapt and eke out an existence for a while on the fringe, but without significant global change our once beautiful, living planet will continue down this ugly path of decline. Unless we all step forward to fight and sacrifice like this tiny Dehli wildlife rescue team, our planet is destined to continue down this path of squalor.