The Swimmer

What a disappointment. I don't particularly care for Israeli films for a number of reasons, some of which were present here in this film but I'll leave these aside as I've dealt with them elsewhere.

The film didn't mean anything at all. It flirted with the idea of gay swimmers or athletes but skittles away from it every time. Worse, it seemed to have been edited and cut badly as scenarios were presented that had no basis in what had come before. Why did the other guys turn against Erez all of a sudden with slurs about him wrongly being in the men's showers? How come the coach got so negative with him after being sure he could go all the way?

There was no back story to anyone, except Paloma and this threw up more questions than answers about her life and motivations.

The final scenes were not believable what with all the shouting and yelling. As for the competition, the way it was conceptualised was cringeworthy.

I watched it all, not for the slickness of the story but in the hope that something interesting or explanatory would happen. It didn't.

Everything about this movie is done well, from the acting to the soundtrack, everything works to create a cohesive whole. That being said, I did not like a single minute of it. It draws you in, thinking that there might be something more going on between these swimmers, and in the end you are left wondering, "Why did I bother trying to figure it out?". You go in thinking it's gonna be about two boys that find love while training to be the sole competitor for the Israeli Olympic swim team, and instead you are given a story about a possibly psychologically damaged young man with identity issues and his experience in an all boys swim team. It's false advertising, is what it is.

As an Gay film, it doesn't work. As a sports film, it doesn't work. As a drama, comedy, romance? None of the above works. It only works as one of those movies where you hope things end up going well for the people and it doesn't. I don't know about any of you, but I just don't enjoy movies that have no one to root for. I didn't root for anyone in this movie, because no one was worth rooting for. That in itself ruined what could have been a decent film.

This movie was not good and I suggest you avoid it.

So we have swimmers competing for one spot at the Olympics, driven by a hard-as-nails coach and all that seems pretty run-of-the-mill. What promised to be different was the story of the closeted swimmer attracted to a rival, but it fell apart. I wonder if scenes were cut that would have added texture and depth because I wondered why the coach suddenly turned against the swimmer he said was going all the way, and why being gay in Israel would disqualify anyone from being on an international team. Someone says the coach has never done anything in his life, but we don't know that or what his story really is. Likewise, we have very little understanding of the main character's life or why he's suddenly "kicked out of" the locker room. What happened? And then the ridiculous disco ending just made no sense. If you make it to the end you'll wonder why Erez seems to do what he does...anything else would be a spoiler. Better yet, don't waste your time. There are echoes here of a brilliant movie, Chariots of Fire, and invoking that film was a mistake because it makes this one seem puny.

Sure, seeing a bunch of well-built athletes walk around in tiny speedo's (and occasionally without them) is absolutely pleasant (I admit, that's what attracted me in the first place), but it's by far not enough to make a decent movie. One also needs some sort of a solid story, one or two characters that you can relate to, and at least some adequate acting. This movie failed on all of the afore-mentioned accounts.

The story goes nowhere, it's evidently meant as some sort of coming-of-age thing, and to denounce homophobia, but apart from the occasional macho talk in the locker room and the questionable opinions of the coach, it all seems to be more in the head of main character Erez, who right from the start of his entrance in this training camp seems to do his utmost best to NOT fit in with the rest.

This already begins with him wearing a flaring orange speedo amid all other plain blue ones, but he also doesn't follow rules, smokes pot, behaves like an irritating and hormone-driven #me-too stalker towards his best buddy and eventually becomes more and more cranky and antagonizing in his behavior. He's not in the least sympathetic and his constant whining is not moving at all, only annoying. Oh, and suggesting that the apparently homophobic coach is a hidden homo himself is such a lame cliché and really way too easy!

As for the coming-of-age aspect: I have no idea what Erez in the end has learned about himself or about his place in the world; if there's meant to be any Werdegang or an emotional transition, then I didn't see it. So I give it 4 out of 10 points for the speedo's and the smooth bodies, but that's it.

I saw this film at the Melbourne Queer Film Festival 2021 and didn't always follow the story but did enjoy the final race and how that was presented.

Unfortunately, the screening was a focus of protests aimed at drawing attention to the Israeli-Palestinian crisis and a few points the screening had to be stopped while protestors were removed from the cinema.

As the film doesn't comment on the Israeli and Palestinian conflict, I was surprised it had drawn such attention. What the film does comment on is topics I have seen better covered in other films and TV, Topics like sport people finding their identity and coping with the pressures of elite competition, I think Barracuda (TV Mini Series 2016) has a lot of similarities to this film and having more time as a mini series covers the themes better.

I was confused by the view point of the "Adults" in this film and I am not sure why the coach, assistant coach, house supervisor and the parents are presented this way. This is an enjoyable watch if you want to see young adults in speedos and the last section resolves the storylines well and includes a run representation of the swim race.