Julie Zwijgt

Before saying anything I would like to show my admiration to Tessa who played Julie in the movie because if this was acting I would be exaggerating if I said she definitely deserves to be nominated to the oscars, and I am not .truly I never saw an actor who made you feel the character like that. If she wasn't acting and this is here normally I would say she needs to see a therapist. All the cast was amazing which again leeds me to the director who made the movie seem to be a documentary the scenes the acting everything and the best thing making the viewer imagine and think which makes you like or not part of the movie itself.

Saw his at the Ghent 2024 filmfestival. Many scenes show tennis training and related, but not to the extent of being annoying, not even for someone (like me) who is not in sports, any sports. The issues shown are contemporary, and we see many similar cases on TV and in newspapers, varying from rumored via openly alleged to legally proven. What we also clearly see here, is that we never get to know what precisely happened, how far it went and how long it lasted, mostly due to privacy concerns for the accused as well as the victims.

The latter is my problem with this movie. When the final credits appeared, I still did not know what the real problem was. The word "stop" is used very often by Jeremy (the accused trainer), repeatedly emphasizing that he stopped as soon as Julie said she wanted him to stop. Is it thus a case of sexual harassment?? Remarkable is that Julie reacted heftily when she learned that Jeremy got a position as trainer on a different location (we recognize this "move" tactic within the church and sexual abuse cases). She also asked her newly appointed trainer whether he was prepared to keep working with her in the case that Jeremy would be reinstated on his old job.

Another unresolved topic is why Julie kept silent and refused to participate in the talking sessions organized by officials, who are obliged to do "something". Did she not want to reveal her reasons why she kept silent and stayed out of the pending investigation?? Or is it a mixture of feeling guilty that she was late with asking Jeremy to stop?? I can only guess what her considerations were. (Maybe I missed something and was it clear for everyone else watching the same movie.)

All in all, interesting for tennis lovers and equally for others who are interested in the main "me too" theme of this movie. The intermixed tennis training scenes are not dominating, neither are they distracting from the main issues. We see Julie in many scenes and many moods, while succeeding in keeping us fascinated with the developments in the story throughout the running time. The other young actors involved did a good job as well.

This is truly a little masterpiece, executed to perfection. Cinematography, acting, editing, setting and the sparse use of music -all combine seamlessly. It feels effortless, revealing just how much love and effort went into it. There is a natural blend of Flemish and French unseen in Belgian cinema. But this is exactly how kids talk in the affluent communities around Brussels. And yes, don't they all struggle with German.

This film is so delicate that even the verb in the title throws it off balance. Simply 'Julie' would suffice. And yet, each bounce of the tennis ball feels like the dynamite straight out of Clouzot's 'Wages of Fear'.

In the credits of this film, one name stands out: that of Naomi Osaka as an executive producer. The tennis player has made no secret of the mental stress caused by top level match playing.

That's exactly what this film is about. It shows Julie, a promising teenage tennis player, coping with the effects caused by a scandal in her tennis club. She is not directly involved by the events, but she cannot escape them either. Although the people around her urge her to 'talk about it', she refuses, insisting there is nothing to say.

Julie seems to be a rather withdrawn girl, although she is popular with her friends. For the viewer, it is not easy to identify with a protagonist who doesn't show her feelings. The result is that not a lot happens in the film. We see Julie training, talking with her friends and parents, walking her dog, and going to school. On the surface, her life is not very eventful. It is up to the viewer to explore what's going on beneath the surface. We get indications, and we see her struggling, as the people around her do. But everything stays unspoken, as is clearly indicated by the title of the film.

Viewers around me at the Film Festival in Ghent, seemed dissapointed but not dismissive. "I was hoping something would happen at the end", the girl on my right side remarked. "What was exactly the point?", a woman to my left remarked.

I think the director has left the answer to that question intentionally open. He didn't spell it out, but has left it for us to discover. If there is a point, I think it could be that preparing young people for a very competitive sports environment should be done with ultimate care.

I know, that doesn't sound spectacular and it probably won't stimulate large crowds to see this film. But some film makers prefer quiet 'slice of life'-movies over high-octane spectacles. Just ask the Dardenne brothers. They are also producers of this film.

This quiet, intense film shows its protagonist coming to terms with an abusive tennis coach and the damage he has wrought. The story is told chronologically in short scenes, generally with static camera, and often events important to the plot happen between scenes. This technique, coupled with the dim Flemish light beautifully captured by Nicolas Karakatsanis' photography, increases the sense of foreboding that pervades the film. We're never quite sure what Julie is thinking (she's a teenager!) as she finds her way through the minefield in which she finds herself. Tessa Van den Broeck, who is in most every frame, does an outstanding job portraying both the inscrutable teenager and the hypercompetitive tennis star. Caroline Shaw's music is used sparingly but effectively to comment on the action. The dialogue moves seamlessly back and forth between Flemish and French, with English phrases here and there. All in all, an outstanding job of telling a complicated, nuanced story with subtlety and grace.