Diving Into the Unknown (2016)

A lot of fun.

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

We get to really experience something here. Friends who will go beyond anything one can imagine to recover the bodies of the people who have been lost. And the setup to the whole thing is important. You need to know what they are doing, and what they are letting themselves into. So while we still get maps and explanations during the movie, the beginning sets up something big.Seeing the men (and woman) going underwater is incredible. It takes quite a toll on your body. But it also is exhausting ... so you can imagine how they feel. It's really draining and I don't think it will inspire too many people to do similar things. But it shows what people/human kind can achieve when there is a huge will and a force that drives you on ...

To put simply, Brotherhood and Friendship goes a few layers deeper in this sport than any other that I have known. What it is to face the elements of technical diving, especially underwater cave diving, is beyond lot of normal dwelling people's imagination and that is captured well in this simplistic documentary. It is a horrible experience to all involved and of course, great losses to the victims' families and their circle of friends. But these guys, despite the odds, went about their way of honouring what it all meant for them and for that it truly is a great tribute.If you ask me, it has given me a bit of inspiration that someday I will become a technical diver and be good at it. There is this crazy in-explainable thing about it. Expedition, exploration of uncharted territory is what one will see from outside but inside the minds of these courageous professionals it's different world. Psychologically, the peace of mind, calmness and stillness achieved to be able to successfully carry out such dives and recovery operation is testament to some of the best and most valuable qualities of human being.There are no frills and no bells and whistles. Go in with open mind and keep your calm. This is probably one of the best documentaries I have watched in long time.

I enjoyed this documentary very much, but that was partly because I knew so much about the incident beforehand, having read about it in the news and diving forums. If I would have seen only the documentary, as a diver I would have wanted more details, technical data, analysis of the accident etc.On the other hand, people who don't know diving terminology could find the lingo difficult to understand. Most used terms are not explained and neither are many of the reasons why cave diving in those depths is so dangerous. Maybe the English subtitles are easier to understand if diving slang is not used. Can't tell because I haven't seen those.This is not a very detailed analysis of the events, but more a story about friendship and the psychological effects of the accident on the fellow divers.The dead bodies can be seen briefly, but there are no close-ups which would make the footage graphic. In my opinion the most graphic parts of the documentary are the discussions held when planning for the recovery dive. What is the condition of the bodies, what equipment should be recovered etc.