In a Zoom interview with The Michigan Daily, Michigan alumnus, author, screenwriter, film producer, and journalist Roger Rapoport discussed the recent project he co-wrote, “Coming Up For Air.” Once editor-in-chief of The Daily, Rapoport has devoted his entire career to creating works of honesty and substance. coming out of a 7th best winning feature At the Vero Beach Film Festival, Rapoport’s pride and passion for film was palpable.
“Coming Up For Air” is a film that explores the demands of caregiving, the dangers of perfectionism, and the consequences of denial. Stan (Chase Yi, “Night Teeth”) is a high jumper with Olympic hopes and a high achiever. His exhausting lifestyle becomes increasingly untenable. His mother, Anna (Deborah Staples, “Pilot Error”), struggles to rescue him as he spirals rapidly into a mental health crisis.
This is unlike any mental health picture we’ve seen before. Instead of focusing solely on Stan, “Coming Up For Air” chooses to tell most of the story through Anna’s eyes. Rapoport said this decision was critical, as there are “endless movies about the journey of (a person with a mental illness)… The caregiver side is downplayed.”
During our conversation, Rapoport described the importance of taking the “local angle” on “Coming Up For Air.” The joy of this film lies in how it can engage with both the individuals and families who watch it, informing viewers about accessing mental health services, leading to more meaningful change. Rapoport himself has a personal connection to the themes of this film, emphasizing that “every family has a history of mental health.” Shortly after finishing, a mental health crisis within Rapoport’s own family required swift action on his part, and the relevance of the film’s subject matter to him came into sharper focus.
On September 30 at The Michigan Theater, I found myself at a performance of “Coming Up For Air” with the stars of the film in attendance. It was my first time in the glorious theater and the first time in a long time seeing a truly independent film. Compared to the often far-fetched, overproduced visuals that are common on the big screen, the narrative of “Coming Up For Air” benefits from the absence of creative constraints that come with corporate production. The film is able to be raw and true to life rather than escapist. Rapoport said that “seeing the film on the big screen at The Michigan Theater is as good as it gets.” I could not agree more.
“Coming Up For Air” is superbly shot. Bruce Schermer, referred to by Rapoport as a “jack-of-all-trades cinematographer,” conveys a mother’s desperation and her son’s anguish with stunning execution and subtle grace. It would be folly to neglect the celebration of editing in the immersive sequences: fluid, utterly believable, and key to conveying Stan’s reality, a testament to this film’s compelling scene constructions. In one scene, Schermer deftly draws a parallel between the lives of Stan and Anna. As a solemn Anna sinks into a bathtub, Stan prepares to dive in. Anna dives into the water while Stan jumps off a diving board and crashes into the cold water meters below him. In another, the film shifts from a shot of Anna’s head as she retires to sleep to a shot of clothes boiling in a washing machine. Here, Schermer communicates the endless shifting of gears in Anna’s worried mind. The camera never leaves Anna: Robert Cicchini (the film’s director) encourages the audience to connect and identify with her. Empathy throbbed in the seats of the Michigan Theater as the film offered what only independent films seem to offer: the quiet beauty of familiarity and realism.
“Coming Up For Air” not only shows the caretaker’s untold story, but the film also breaks precedent by focusing on a high jumper. When asked about the importance of his choice of topic, Rapoport noted that “Everything in rig diving: dive from a platform It happens in three seconds. By choosing the “ultimate do-or-die” sport in which “there is no room for error,” “Coming Up For Air” is able to capture the nauseating weight that relentlessly suffocates Stan. It becomes almost painful to hear the sound of Stan’s body hitting the water over and over again, as the awkwardness and confinement of his sport settles into the audience.
The performances of the two lead actors, whom I also met on September 30, were sensitive and powerfully convincing. Yi and Staples happily reminisced about their time filming the movie, praising each other endlessly and exchanging funny jokes. Rapoport praised the co-stars for their intimate understanding of Stan and Anna, likening the perfectionism and competitive nature of acting to a sport like high diving. Rapoport added that their drastically different approaches to this film were “a huge advantage” in emulating a mother-son relationship, in which they “love each other, but don’t see life the same way.” In one of the best scenes, Anna supports a resigned Stan as he finally gives in to his own pain and allows his mother to carry some of the burden with him.
My conversation with Rapoport raised my expectations for “Coming Up For Air,” and the film exceeded them. I left the theater with the kind of heaviness that only comes after seeing something profound, a new sense of appreciation for the sacrifices made by our loved ones and a fierce, fierce need to hug my mother.
Daily Arts contributor Maya Ruder can be reached at [email protected].
