The Swimmer (2021)

The Swimmer (2021). 1h 24m | Unrated

“I expect better from Israeli u0026#39; Gay films u0026#39; than this. For a start it is full of gay cliches; shower scenes showing male nudity, and a lot of other imagery that falls into the cliches of gay cinema. Omar Perelman Striks as the lead can act, and so is his possible love competitor Asaf Josef a good second lead. They are competing for a swimming place in the Olympics. The first quarter of the film seemed endless with a lot of male posing and plunging into the relentlessly blue water of the training pool. Then a sort of flirtation on both sides slowly happens but real feeling does not. The relationship side becomes a dead duck in the water and that relationship could have been a positive situation that would have saved the film. Male hysteria and yes homophobia becomes close to the absurd and there is one scene of camp dancing instead of swimming which looks badly choreographed and made me cringe. A defiant scene against male dominated homophobia in sport ? Maybe but it did not work for me. It is otherwise well filmed if monotonously and the Striks lead looks gay enough at the end. Quotable line. I do not believe in God but I do believe in Madonna. We have a dearth of good Gay/Queer cinema from the West, and usually films from Israel are worth seeing. The world we live in is too busy with urgent problems to think of than male sex/love and yet the world desperately needs to tackle complex themes that has homosexuality at its core. Complex, not open to the relentless straight eye to tear apart. This film does not succeed except in showing the male body and that is simply not enough. A real attack without the camp against straight dominance in sport would have been so much better with a real gay relationship at its core. A reluctant three for a goodish use of visuals and pacing.”