2024 Entry #40 04-12-24 “The Swimmer” is a 2021 Israeli sports drama written and directed by Adam Kalderon, who is openly gay. Omer Perelman Striks stars as Erez, a gay competitive swimmer, torn between desire, success and self fulfillment in the shadow of the discrimination that he faces in the world of sports.
Interesting. Another film in which I’m not sure the ending lands exactly as I’d have chosen, yet far more successful than “Punch”. Also, this film features several creative flourishes which really made me pay attention. First there was a scene in which the lead masturbates under a blanket (as is often the case, understandably, on screen) but as the camera moves down the actor’s legs, the blanket moves with him and his erection is fully realized in the shadow cast on the wall. Perhaps it was fake, but it was still surprising to see. Soon after this there is a shot of the swimmers, their faces in the water, with the camera upside down – it looked incredible. These little moments were few and far between but entertaining as I began to watch for them. And then the ending went so far over the top that I wasn’t sure what to make of it at first. During the final race, the competition transforms into an imagined dance off in an empty pool, which reflects what is actually happening in the race. It nearly killed the movie for me, before I realized that I kind of liked it. I found some of the imagery confusing and I’m not sure I completely understand the mental transformation that takes place in the film’s final moments. This project feels like a few different things forced to exist in the same film and I guess I wish that they’d embraced these highly stylized elements more and allowed these different aspects to coalesce into something more cohesive. There are some brave choices on display here and they deserve to be seen, but their fleeting use makes the otherwise well made bit of the film seem bland by comparison.
