The Swimmers (2022) 🦛🦛🦛 If your looking for a feel good true story meet Yusra and Sarah Mardini, teenage sisters who escaped the civil war in Syria hoping to make their way to Germany. The hook, and the reason the movie got made, is that the two sisters are talented competitive swimmers and Yusra has a dream of making it all the way to the Olympics. The meat of the movie is the sisters refugee journey and their time in a refugee camp in Germany. Yusra and Sarah are played by real life sisters Nathalie and Manal Issa who do a good job of bringing emotional resonance to the roles. In spite of their efforts to give Yusra and Maddini personalities there is little character development. Ultimately Yusra and Sarah are symbols more then individuals but you will cheer for them just the same. The Swimmers is one of those true life movies that is triumphant and uplifting but not before it is tragic and heartbreaking. I applaud the filmmakers for addressing serious social issues but it’s worth noting that every time they walk up to the edge of real life horror they stop this side of losing a PG-13 rating and their overall feel good presentation. The plight of refugees is taken seriously but ultimately this is an uplifting story of triumph not a documentary. I don’t consider this a bad thing. It is what allowed me to watch it with my 11 year old who grasped the terrible plights of being a refugee without being emotionally overwhelmed by the even darker full reality. There is a sexual assault but it is stopped before it gets very far. There is the terror of crossing the open sea in an unworthy boat but no one dies. There is betrayal by those who take money to help them cross borders but no one is trafficked and no one disappears. I mention this to put the movie into context. What it does right is that is raises these issues but if you are an adult you need to be aware that this is the barest surface of the very serious global refugee crisis. As a movie it is good but not great. Everyone is likeable but no no one is memorable, like the sisters each person is more symbol than individual. To many scenes are repetitive or just to long. We see how happy the family was more then we need to. We see how strong the sisters are to much. Trimmed down to a leaner length I think it would have been just as effective but I throughly enjoyed it while watching it and my 11 year old, who is a big fan of biographical/social justice/sports movies called it “Amazing!” My favourite parts where the quiet scenes. To often in the west we still see middle eastern countries portrayed as backwards by western standards. I enjoyed seeing Syria as a place with people very much like my neighbours and family challenges just like mine. I liked the over bearing dad who has a clear favourite. I liked the scenes of their cousin Nizar (Ahmed Malek) who traveled with the sisters but gets left in the refugee camp when Yusra and Sarah get out because he doesn’t have something the west values: talent at a sport. I like the movies honesty about the to often tragic reality of the would be helpfulness of the west. The inevitable failure of western helpfulness is one of the most powerful parts of the movie. These scenes are not as immediately emotionally powerful as the scenes of terror in the open sea or the epic shot of thousands of abandoned life jackets but the quieter scenes stuck with me longer. I think it would be easy to over champion this movie for what it isn’t, a documentary or dismiss it as feel good fluff. For me it was a positive emotional experience and a little bit eye opening. If what you see here is news to you I think it is important to take a next step. Become informed. Support a charity. Pray. Do something.
A real life, feel good refugee story
A real life, feel good refugee story
A real life, feel good refugee story
The Swimmers (2022) 🦛🦛🦛 If your looking for a feel good true story meet Yusra and Sarah Mardini, teenage sisters who escaped the civil war in Syria hoping to make their way to Germany. The hook, and the reason the movie got made, is that the two sisters are talented competitive swimmers and Yusra has a dream of making it all the way to the Olympics. The meat of the movie is the sisters refugee journey and their time in a refugee camp in Germany. Yusra and Sarah are played by real life sisters Nathalie and Manal Issa who do a good job of bringing emotional resonance to the roles. In spite of their efforts to give Yusra and Maddini personalities there is little character development. Ultimately Yusra and Sarah are symbols more then individuals but you will cheer for them just the same. The Swimmers is one of those true life movies that is triumphant and uplifting but not before it is tragic and heartbreaking. I applaud the filmmakers for addressing serious social issues but it’s worth noting that every time they walk up to the edge of real life horror they stop this side of losing a PG-13 rating and their overall feel good presentation. The plight of refugees is taken seriously but ultimately this is an uplifting story of triumph not a documentary. I don’t consider this a bad thing. It is what allowed me to watch it with my 11 year old who grasped the terrible plights of being a refugee without being emotionally overwhelmed by the even darker full reality. There is a sexual assault but it is stopped before it gets very far. There is the terror of crossing the open sea in an unworthy boat but no one dies. There is betrayal by those who take money to help them cross borders but no one is trafficked and no one disappears. I mention this to put the movie into context. What it does right is that is raises these issues but if you are an adult you need to be aware that this is the barest surface of the very serious global refugee crisis. As a movie it is good but not great. Everyone is likeable but no no one is memorable, like the sisters each person is more symbol than individual. To many scenes are repetitive or just to long. We see how happy the family was more then we need to. We see how strong the sisters are to much. Trimmed down to a leaner length I think it would have been just as effective but I throughly enjoyed it while watching it and my 11 year old, who is a big fan of biographical/social justice/sports movies called it “Amazing!” My favourite parts where the quiet scenes. To often in the west we still see middle eastern countries portrayed as backwards by western standards. I enjoyed seeing Syria as a place with people very much like my neighbours and family challenges just like mine. I liked the over bearing dad who has a clear favourite. I liked the scenes of their cousin Nizar (Ahmed Malek) who traveled with the sisters but gets left in the refugee camp when Yusra and Sarah get out because he doesn’t have something the west values: talent at a sport. I like the movies honesty about the to often tragic reality of the would be helpfulness of the west. The inevitable failure of western helpfulness is one of the most powerful parts of the movie. These scenes are not as immediately emotionally powerful as the scenes of terror in the open sea or the epic shot of thousands of abandoned life jackets but the quieter scenes stuck with me longer. I think it would be easy to over champion this movie for what it isn’t, a documentary or dismiss it as feel good fluff. For me it was a positive emotional experience and a little bit eye opening. If what you see here is news to you I think it is important to take a next step. Become informed. Support a charity. Pray. Do something.