The Swimmer

LGBTQ discrimination in sport is exposed in Adam Kalderon’s Israeli drama.

This film from Israel, a second feature from writer/director Adam Kalderon, immediately invites comparison with two other recent releases, The Novice and Streamline. In each case the central character is a young person whose serious sporting endeavours are a prime focus: in The Novice it was a female rower whereas the other two works feature male swimmers. Kalderon's film seems set to follow the pattern of Streamline which combined its view of competitive sport with a separate drama (in that case one in which the young hero came under the disturbing influence of an older brother with criminal tendencies). In The Swimmer, Erez (Omer Perelman Striks) is one of five young swimmers who, supervised by a Russian coach, Dema (Igal Reznik), are being trained up for a key trial event the winner of which will be put forward for the Israeli Olympics team. In this instance the personal issue that arises concerns the fact that Erez is gay and finds himself attracted to his chief rival, Nevo (Asaf Jonas). However, the coach is insistent on everybody's focus being on their training and on nothing else and Erez, whose parents were swimmers too, is set on being the winner.

There is no doubt at all that The Swimmer is aimed first and foremost at gay audiences and any viewers looking for a film featuring young men mainly seen wearing immodestly modest swimwear are well catered for. As in Streamline the sporting scenes are competently handled, but in both cases the screenplay by the director leaves much to be desired. This is particularly surprising here given the gay focus. The rapport between Erez and Nevo leaves the latter’s sexuality vague, but the more obviously gay Erez is nevertheless given a girlfriend without any elaboration of the situation. As for Dema, his disapproval of any closeness between the swimmers probably implies homophobia although his comments never mention sex directly and at least one scene seems to hint that he could be gay himself, but this is never followed up.

In The Novice I found it difficult to care about a central character so committed to her sporting career that everything else, including a lesbian relationship, was sidelined. Here one senses that, despite the determination of Erez to succeed regardless of his dislike of being in the water, he will eventually turn against the competitive macho world in which he finds himself. If so, this should grow out of his need to embrace his life as a gay man whether or not that might involve Nevo. But Erez and the assistant coach Paloma (Nadia Kucher), herself a former swimming champion, both speak of dreams that suggest dissatisfaction with the course that their lives are taking. Yet, as writer, Kalderon fails to give a clearer, deeper picture that would clarify exactly what he wants to say about the sporting world and its impact on sportsmen especially those who are gay. Striks is excellent in the central role but The Swimmer feels less than fully developed and its one act of real daring – a highly stylised finale – is too far removed from the film’s established realism to cap the story as effectively as intended.

MANSEL STIMPSON

Cast: Omer Perelman Striks, Asaf Jonas, Nadia Kucher, Igal Reznik, Gal Ben Arma, Aviv Karmi, Ofek Nicki-Cohen, Roy Reshef, Gil Wasserman, May Kurtz, Yarden Tusia-Cohen.

Dir Adam Kalderon, Pro Mika Kalderon and Naama Pyritz, Screenplay Adam Kalderon, Ph Ofer Inov, Art Dir Udi Tugendreich, Ed Guy Nemesh, Music The Penelopes, Costumes Keren Eyal Melamed.

Ingénue Productions/Israel Film Fund-Peccadillo Pictures.
84 mins. Israel. 2021. UK Rel: 6 May 2022. Cert. 18.