Part of the Centrepiece section of this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, THE SWEDISH TORPEDO hit my radar pretty quickly as I really like female swimmers going on a massive cross-channel journey for some unknown reason!
The TIFF Lowdown: Southern Sweden, summer 1939. World War II is looming. 30-year-old single mother Sally Bauer can’t tear herself from the sea. She is determined to become the first Scandinavian to swim the English Channel. Facing social pressure and sanctioned by her family who threatens to take her son away, she confronts conventions and fiercely crawls her way through a record-breaking journey.
Reaction: This is a very exciting idea for a movie and especially after enjoying the Annette Benning starring NYAD two TIFF’s ago, the idea of another story on female swimmers doing an incredibly daring task seems to inspire me in an odd way. THE SWEDISH TORPEDO hit my radar after reading the TIFF description and after watching it, any similarities to NYAD slipped away pretty quick. The movie is VERY slow to start, depicting a lot of Sally’s life routine as she battles with custody of her son after a failed swimming attempt. There’s even a few moments where I wish it tightened up a bit or we see more of the process of her swimming, but once the movie picks up in the second half it’s very rewarding viewing. Director (name here) shoots this story on gorgeous film stock and you can really feel the era, and the sound design in the swimming sequences alone demands a big screen presentation. One shot alone of her starting her swim is so beautiful and inspiring (in addition to just seeing her covered in mud to keep her warm). Far from perfect, but still recommend finding this when you can and sticking with it, especially if you are a fan of the very small genre of movies about swimming.
Although I felt like I wasn’t going to like it at the start, I really recommend THE SWEDISH TORPEDO and sticking with it. The movie ultimately rewards the viewer with its subject.
Thanks to TIFF Media for assistance with this reaction article. This is one of the many movies playing at TIFF this year. For more information, point your browser to www.tiff.net!