
In “Young Woman and the Sea,” Daisy Ridley takes on jellyfish and the patriarchy with her full strength and fierce independence.
This is the first feature role that Ridley has played where she stars as Trudy Ederle, an American Olympic swimmer best known for being the first woman to swim across the English Channel. Ederle managed to pull this off in 1926 which was quite some time ago, practically a hundred years ago before even the open water swimming achievement in the recently Oscar-nominated film “Nyad,” which of course draws many a comparison to. For one, times have changed and sports nutrition is not like in the past. While crossing the Atlantic, Diana Nyad swam 100 miles from Cuba to Florida, no one was lowering nets full of tea and fried chicken down to her.
Such are some of the most intriguing aspects of modern-day sport and its history as seen in the film directed by Joachim Rønning. From sportswriter Glenn Stout’s book, the film has the same title. What makes this sport so fascinating and frustrating at the same time is how the male in the sport manages to completely disregard everything the woman such as Ederle requires in order to be able to train, compete, and ultimately succeed. Plus, they are simply underwater and do not give a dang. They ignore considerations and even do not leave from the point of view of frighteningly reluctant female Olympians. But we, women, are resourceful, and Ederle always gets things done no matter what.
When others belittle her, her sharp tongue and her self-assurance do not wear out; just like in the previous three “Star Wars” movies, when we saw Ridley portraying Rey, there’s the same fierce spark over here as well.
“Young Woman and the Sea” is a good movie for young girls, especially for those who are active in sports. But its notions of being courageous, ambitious, and persistence are traits that each one pursuing a target will relate to. Rønning seems to have come to a good compromise on this point for himself: he has shot an inspiring sports drama without being too sentimental, which at times is light on the nose as far as genre conventions are concerned.
It is also an exhilarating experience. He makes valuable skill in the water film where most of its action involves water, thanks to the Norwegian filmmaker’s acclaimed film ‘Kon-Tiki’ who seems to be quite nominated for an Oscar and of a semi-documentary style, he seems to make us feel as though we are skimming the waves with Ederle. One of the most shocking moments comes when she crosses this blue dreamy field filled with jellyfishes. It is frightening how much anxiety she feels, even at night when she has to go around the shallow waters on her own outside Dover.
Oscar Faura’s cinematography in “The Impossible” and “The Imitation Game”, showcases various worlds from the working locations of Ederle’s, to the sunny and iceberg-cold British coastlines.
However, when we were introduced to Ederle for the very first time, she was a fragile child living in New York City back in 1914, and at that point, she was qualified to catch measles. Olive Abercrombie is cute as a young tween, who appears to be an eternal optimist as she gets to swim despite fears of her German immigrant father saying it was not that girl’s behavior. The teenage character was played by Ridley with Tilda Cobham-Hervey playing Trudy’s older sister Meg. If their mother is a stylish and willful feminist, so Trudy and Meg ought to be trained as professional swimmers. This is how one’s imagination of training montages in a small indoor swimming pool led by no-nonsense Lottie Epstein (Sian Clifford) comes true.
Jeff Nathanson’s script poignantly presents the conflict between home where Trudy is the butcher’s daughter and an athlete that possesses highly ambitious aspirations.
Her life as set out for her parents organizing her marriage with a pleasant German boy or having the neighborhood that she would most probably settle in seems to be everything she does not want. Those arm muscles are put to good use as one would imagine, as she is bound to be fine before ever hitting submersion in the ocean while swimming in competition, she also happens to be a drunkard, so she pushes further herself. Particularly, Stephen Graham and Alexander Karim seem vital as antagonists turned grudging allies.
Nonetheless, however, this is a film where the journey is quite literally the movement. It is very amusing at first, and then provides great tension, a dry sense of high-tech sophistication of reporting on her crossing the English Channel, which gives rise to a new type of storytelling. It delights the senses completely while remaining consistent even at extremes. There is nothing new about “Young Woman and the Sea” as it progresses through genre tropes, but it is still interesting enough to be watchable so that every exertive stroke does not lose our focus.
for more movies like Young Woman and the Sea on 123movies