MovieChat Forums > Gwai wik (2006) Discussion > 'Hold your breath' Is that a common beli...

'Hold your breath' Is that a common belief/superstition in the East?

posted 16 years ago by breakthemadness
3 replies | jump to latest

This is the third Eastern film where I've seen character crossing a bridge and is told to "hold their breath." In this film and Spirited Away, the protagonists are both supposed to hold their breath while crossing a bridge less they alert the attention of the occupants of the world they're moving around in.

In the Singapore film Dorm http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0495824/ (another good film BTW), the young boy in the film is told that if he can hold his breath while they cross the bridge (in a car) he'll be granted a wish.

I'm just curious, is this whole "Hold your breath while crossing a bridge" a common belief over in the east, sort of similar to western ideas like tossing salt over your shoulder and not walking underneath ladders? If so, can anyone tell me more about where it came from?

Thanks!

"Be afraid, be very afraid."

[–] samsblood 15 years ago

I don't know anything about the history of the belief/superstition, but it seems to me the straightforward explanation is this: in both this movie and 'Spirited Away' (I havent' seen the Singaporean movie) the protagonists are living people intruding in a world of spirits and trying not to attract attention. They must not breathe while crossing a bridge (symbolic of the divide between the corporeal and the non-corporeal, or the living and the non-living) because only living creatures have breath.

[–] pandahat 15 years ago

I've seen those same 3 movies too and noticed! Breakthemadness pretty much has the idea of the belief. BTW, Dorm is Thai not Singaporean.

[–] Syndicateman 14 years ago

I actually thought it had more to do with the undead mythos of the Jiang Shi, or Chinese vampiers, popularized in Eastern movie culture. Chinese Vampires are usually missing their eyes, so the only way they can detect you is if you breathe.