Herbert Nitsch: Zurück aus der Tiefe (TV Movie 2013)

Herbert Nitsch: Zurück aus der Tiefe: Directed by Christian May. With Herbert Nitsch, Peter de Hueber, Markus Helm, Eugenijus Kaniusas. On 6 June 2012, the apnea diver Herbert Nitsch sought to improve his own world record in freediving by another 100 feet — to 800 feet (244 m). The record attempt off the Greek island of Santorini was to only be the beginning of his “1,000 feet” project. . Unconscious, he had to be brought to the surface by rescue divers — after reaching a depth of more than 818 feet (249.5 meters).This documentary accompanied him during his incredible recovery.

“What a strange culture we inhabit. A man who subjects his body to a very dangerous depletion of oxygen during a tank-free deep-sea dive ends up suffering brain damage. And everyone interviewed acts surprised?u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThis film mostly follows along the diver´s convalescence and what is depicted as post-¨accident¨ therapy. But how was this an accident? If I decided that i could fly without any sort of wings or other gear and jumped off a skyscraper, wouldn´t that just count as a crazy person´s suicide? Wouldn´t my blood be checked in an autopsy for traces of judgment-compromising drugs?u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIn Nitsch´s case, everyone acts as though somehow this was an unexpected misfortune beyond his control. I find it not admirable but sad that a human being would knowingly risk his health and well-being, and transform himself into a disabled person by his own choice to do what is manifestly dangerous only because he wanted to be ¨the best¨ at something. Let us be perfectly frank: this is like taking a selfie on a cliff and tumbling to one´s death seconds later.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI hereby nominate apnea diving for top contender for the Darwin Awards. I am sorry that Mr. Nitsch lost a significant number of brain cells, but he is not the first person to have had a severe stroke, just one of the few to inflict it upon himself in a quest for some dubious notion of ¨success¨.”