10/22
Julie is a star player at an elite tennis academy. When her coach is investigated and suddenly suspended, all the players at the club are encouraged to speak out. But Julie chooses to keep quiet. Belgium’s official submission for the ‚Best International Feature Film‘ category of the 97th Academy Awards in 2025. I watched theirs at the 2024 Ghent film festival. Many scenes show tennis training and related things, but not to the point of being disturbing, even for someone (like me) who doesn’t play sports, any sports. The issues shown are contemporary, and we see many similar cases on TV and in newspapers, varying from rumors to openly alleged and legally proven ones. What we also see clearly here is that we never get to know what exactly happened, how far it went, and how long it lasted, mostly due to concerns for the privacy of the accused and the victims. The latter is my problem with this movie. When the end credits rolled, I still didn’t know what the real problem was. Jeremy (the accused coach) uses the word “stop” very often, repeatedly emphasizing that he stopped as soon as Julie told him she wanted him to. Is this then a case of sexual harassment? It is remarkable that Julie reacted strongly when she learned that Jeremy had gotten a coaching position at a different place (we recognize this “displacement” tactic within the church and sexual abuse cases). She also asked her newly appointed coach if he was willing to continue working with her in the event that Jeremy was reinstated in his old job. Another unresolved issue is why Julie remained silent and refused to participate in the dialogue sessions organized by the officials, who are obliged to do “something.” Did she not want to reveal her reasons for remaining silent and staying out of the pending investigation? Or is it a mixture of guilt for having delayed asking Jeremy to stop? I can only guess what her considerations were. (Maybe I missed something and it was clear to everyone else who watched the same movie.) Overall, it’s interesting for tennis lovers and also for others who are interested in the main „me too“ theme of this film. The interspersed tennis training scenes do not dominate, nor distract from the main themes. We see Julie in many scenes and in many moods, while she manages to keep us fascinated with the developments of the story throughout the footage. The other young actors involved also did a good job.
Schreibe einen Kommentar