Deeper
Do men yearn for the grave? If Jennifer Peedom’s new doco Deeper is anything to go by, the answer is “yes, and with great enthusiasm.” The director of Sherpa and Mountain this time focuses her lens on Thai cave rescuers and 2019 Australian of the Year recipients Dr Richard “Harry” Harris and Dr Craig Challen as they plumb the depths of New Zealand’s Pearse Resurgence in pursuit of a new record…and perhaps something deeper.
The cave system is touted as (probably) the deepest dived cave system in the world and one of the more challenging ones at that; a diver who attempted a record in the 90s died in the process and their body couldn’t be recovered until two years later. If that weren’t enough of a high pressure situation for these lads, they plan to use hydrogen as breathing gas past the 200 metre mark, confronting them with the question: is the juice worth the intense squeeze?
In case you don’t know Richard Harris or Craig Challen, Deeper provides a recap. Harry is the anaesthetist (later played by Joel Edgerton in Ron Howard’s Thirteen Lives) whose rescue solution involved sedating the boys and their coach to safely transport them out of the flooded cave in Tham Luang. Craig is a veterinarian and Harry’s dive partner who has earned diving records and awards of his own. Theirs is a high risk preoccupation and as such, they’ve known and lost several friends to it over the years. But with any luck, this dive will be a triumphant addition to their oeuvre and not a final passage.
Deeper covers a three-week trip to the Pearse Resurgence where Harry and Craig – supported by their Wetmules team – will dive beyond their previous record while also trialling hydrogen, a gas that has never before been used in a rebreather but that alleviates certain shakes that take over the body at extreme depths. Unfortunately, it’s also been known to explode (cue obligatory footage of the Hindenburg) so it’ll involve a lot of safety prep and testing.
When the crew aren’t diving and testing their equipment, they’re indulging in campfire banter and meals lovingly prepared by the camp chef. It’s in these candid scenes that we gauge a little about the rest of the crew and their roles and it’s a delight to see their unique brand of mateship on display. Everyone has their niche and everyone is a bit of a nerd in one way or another; we get the sense that they’re each a bit uncomfortable in everyday life but strangely at home when practising scientific exploration outside the confines of societal expectations.
The focus turns to Harry and Craig whose relationship is a sort of marriage; a closeness that allows for bickering and playful competition but ultimately, a relationship built and maintained by complete trust. They both acknowledge that if anything goes wrong down there, they do not wish for others to put themselves in danger to recover their bodies. It’s a sobering reminder that beneath the fun and adventure of getting to dive with your best mate, the end is always nearby, lurking in some poorly lit corner of a cave.
But Harry and Craig don’t mind the risk; they use such trips to escape their fame following the Thai cave rescue story as we learn that, surprisingly, they don’t feel as though they deserved recognition or accolades for their contributions. Such external validation seems uncomfortable to them and they instead seek it from the deep as it’s a more introspective way to find purpose. I don’t understand it and neither does Harry’s wife Fiona, whom Peedom interviews throughout the film.
The pair have three children and Fiona spent the early years of parenthood wondering how she’d cope on her own if the worst were to happen. Why does her husband feel the need to constantly tempt fate? Indeed, for many male divers who’ve taken a step back from the extreme sport, the reason is often due to concern from their partners. And it’s this aspect of Deeper that I find most interesting; this inexplicable thing that, to some degree or another, seems to exist within all men and propels them past a figurative warning sign marked “enter at your own risk.”
On the surface, Deeper appears to be a simple record of a diving trip by a group of men on a personal mission. It features some beautiful cinematography from DOP Benjamin Dowie and a looming score by composer Anthony Partos, adding weight to the already fraught-with-danger mission. But below its waters, Deeper is a study of the male psyche and each man’s inability to resist the call of the void.
According to Harry “I first dived the site in 2007 with Dave Apperley, Craig Howell and Rick Stanton. On that trip the cave was extended from 125m to 177m depth by Dave and Rick. I was hooked!” And ‘hooked’ as an apt way of describing the hold that diving as a subject has on men, for it does seem to be another ‘Roman Empire’ that plays on their minds frequently.
Whether going down the YouTube rabbit hole of cave diving disasters or actually gearing up with tubes and tanks and heading down to the unknown, men seem titillated by the mysterious beauty of an underwater crevasse. Is it the symbolic reminder of their mother’s uterus they crave? A space that envelops them and reminds them what it’s like to be powerless? Or are they escaping the noise above sea level in search of self-discovery?
The simple answer might be that this is what adventurers and pioneers do, and men see themselves as such. The aim is to be a James Cameron rather than a Stockton Rush, so safety and prep are obviously paramount. It does seem, at least for the subjects of this doco, that the drive is curiosity and the feeling that comes from feeding it is worth the risk.
So, to answer the question about the juice and the squeeze, yes – these dives are ‘worth it’ to some degree. They’re worth it for research purposes and they’re worth it in a shituation when thirteen people need rescuing from a flooded cave and would undeniably be dead if some brave civilians weren’t properly trained and experienced to get them out. Whether it’s worth it for the individual diver who continues to put themself in harm’s way for a hobby is up to the individual diver, though I’m pretty sure I know what they’d say. For Harry, Craig and crew, if there be dragons, then ‘there’ is where they’ll go.
If you’re expecting an outing as tense and emotional as Netflix’s Thai Cave Rescue or Ron Howard’s Thirteen Lives, then you may be disappointed. While there are some close calls in Deeper the happy outcome of the dive is already confirmed by the fact that its two main divers are booked for Q&As for the film’s premiere. Phew.
By the end of Deeper I felt an immense relief that Harry had his fill and returned safely to his family. It was only afterwards that I learned he then went and completed a 245 metre dive not long after. The void keeps calling and I guess the boys keep answering. While I may not understand men, I do admire some of them.
Verdict
☆☆☆☆
Deeper is screening a SOLD OUT WA premiere at Luna Leederville with a live Q&A from Dr Richard Harris and Dr Craig Challen on Sunday 12th October. If you didn’t get tickets, there’s a session at 6:30pm with a recorded intro.
