Die glitzernden Garnelen (2019)
9KDie glitzernden Garnelen: Directed by Maxime Govare, Cédric Le Gallo. With Nicolas Gob, Alban Lenoir, Michaël Abiteboul, David Baïot. Matthias Le Goff, an Olympic champion, makes a homophobic statement on TV. His punishment: coach the Shiny Shrimps, an amateur gay water-polo team. They have only one thing in mind: to qualify for the Gay Games in Croatia.
“Sports movies are about overcoming obstacles and finding strength in a team. This movie is no exception. The difference is that, this time, the team is going to the Gay Games, an international competition that celebrate LGBT people through sports. And theyu0026#39;re being trained by an outsider : a swimmer who called a journalist a homophobic slur and has to make amends.nBeing an LGBT movie at the same time as a sports movie makes it possible to join two concepts from these two genres : the sports team, and the LGBT « found family ». The character of the trainer is then put as a contrast, as he becomes part of the team against his will, but does it for his own personal motives, not for the team members. Of course, he is a complex character who is also given the opportunity to evolve through the course of the movie.nThe obstacles that the team and its members have to face are varied, and all seen through a LGBT lens, although they avoid being reductible to « LGBT problems ». This allows the characters to be multi-dimensional : being gay (or trans in the case of one character) is a big part of their identity and of the movie (and of course they unfortunately have to deal with homophobia and transphobia), but it isnu0026#39;t their only defining characteristic, and they all live their gay-ness differently anyway. I donu0026#39;t want to say too much about the charactersu0026#39; issues because getting to know them is part of the journey.nSome parts of the movie are a bit cliché, or, better said, predictable, but I doesnu0026#39;t take away the emotional core of the movie, which is, I think, above all about the ability of accepting yourself (even in the face of intolerance) and the importance of support among friends.nI must say that, at the beginning of the movie, I was a bit disconcerted by some (not all) of the performances, which I found a little flat. However, this problem didnu0026#39;t last and I became entirely caught in the story. The last scene made me very emotional ; emotions which were only accentuated by the perfect music choice for the credits (Kid, by Eddy de Pretto, always makes me emotional). Even with the inherent sadness from a movie that deals with homophobia, illness and heartbreak, it still is a « feel-good » movie that makes you feel like you can be brave and live your dreamsnI very much recommend it.”
