Young Woman and the Sea (2024) – A Bespoke Insight

Directed by: Joachim Rønning
Written by: Jeff Nathanson
Starring: Daisy Ridley, Tilda Cobham-Hervey Stephen Graham, Christopher Eccleston, Kim Bodnia
Produced by: The Walt Disney Pictures, Jerry Bruckheimer Films
Based on: Lifting the Curtain: Representation: Young Woman and the Sea * by Glenn Stout (2009)
Runtime: 112 minutes
Release: Limited theatrical release on May 31, 2024; streaming on Disney+ on July 19, 2024

Plot Overview

Young Woman and the Sea is a historical fiction based on Gertrude “Trudy” Ederle, who was an American swimmer at the early age of the twentieth century and the first woman who swam across the English Channel in 1926. The movie starts in New York 1914 revealing the early life of the heroine Trudy, her illness, and interest in swimming, which forms the basis of her success story. After taking the Olympic bronze medal in swimming in 1924, Trudy decides to accomplish what others consider to be a mere impossibly, that being to swim across the English Channel. All the odds and the discouragement from the people around her, Trudy does not give up but rather continues to push through to get to the end she achieves the all historic feat, which would cement her place as one of the most decorated women in sports.

Direction and Screenplay

Joachim Rønning, known for his work on Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, plays it far safer in this biographical sports drama. It is made in a traditional manner with the references to the successful sports movies of the earlier years. The events from Ederle’s life are depicted by Jeff Nathanson’s screenplay tightly and restrictively, setting the film’s plot only in the most essential events of Ederle’s life. However, the movie does not depart significantly from the tropes that define the genre but it manages to convey the struggle, the passion and the odds of the society against Ederle.

Performance

Daisy Ridley mouths the lines well as Trudy Ederle and portray’s the perseverance of a swimmer quite effusively. Ridley’s take on it enhances the character development, how tired she is but the mental exhaustion that comes with the journey. Ridley’s enhancements are significant especially by backing his lead with better actors such as Tilda Cobham-Hervey as Trudy’s sister Meg and Stephen Graham as Bill Burgess. Jabez Wolffe, the antagonist of the film – a cruel and blackmailing coach with hardly human feelings – is played by Christopher Eccleston along with added tension, but sometimes the actor overplays and transforms into caricature.

Cinematography and Visuals

The aesthetic of the film is driven by a concern with photographic historicism and the work of cinematographer Tobias A. Schliessler tenderly bathes the settings in a late Edwardian glow. One of the best done scenes are those which portray Trudy’s training session and, finally, her crossing of the English Channel; the immensity of the water to swim through has a way of conveying the realistic depiction of struggle that the film portrays so well. Shooting by water makes sense to emphasize the experience of the main character, to raise more interest in the film, to present the main value of the heroine, which is the triumph of True Davies’s swimmer, Trudy.

Themes and Tone

Young Woman and the Sea is a novel of triumph and endurance, and it touches on issues to do with gender, especially in the male-dominated world of sea and navigation. As with the previous films, the role of Trudy is presented not only as the first female sports broadcaster but as a woman who had to fight the patriarchal society. However, critics have pointed out that the film can look quite conservative when it comes to feminism offering nothing nearly as raw and complex as the freedoms women can enjoy today. However, the overall feeling that viewers get after the final credit is inspiring and the movie is a true feel good movie which tells a story of achievement.

Reception

Critics’ response to Young Woman and the Sea was mostly positive when it was published. The film received positive ratings on Rotten Tomatoes aggregating an 88 percent approval and mean rating of 6. 9/10. The critical reception was positive although the movie was criticised for the lack of originality in paying homage to traditional sports films, Ridley was applauded. Nevertheless, some of the film’s critics accused it of not being radical enough where the themes of feminism were concerned. Metacritic has assigned the film 62 out of 100, describing reviews as generally favourable.

Box Office Performance

The film only earned $500,000 in the United States and Canada, and $81,725 in other countries for a total of $581,725. As much as these numbers are small they are somewhat reasonable given the limited theatrical run of the movie, and its subsequent streaming on Disney+.

Critical Analysis

Strengths:
–Daisy Ridley’s Performance: The acting which can be considered to be the strongest area of the film is rendered by Ridley as the Trudy Ederle character.
–Nostalgic Direction: Nonetheless, through this work Rønning skillfully touches on the vectors of the so-called sports movies, which makes it a familiar and predictable work for fans of this genre.
–Cinematography: The representation of the swim across the English Channel is well filmed, with well chosen and used naturals to build the pressure in the film.

Weaknesses:
–Predictable Narrative: As one might expect, the execution of the story is well done but at the same time the plot is very conventional that might seem mundane to some people.
-Simplified Feminist Themes: Aspects of gender problems are depicted with more simple and less complex approach in the film compared to the real trials of Ederle.

Conclusion

Young Woman and the Sea is more or less a fine and inspiring biographical movie that tells the story of Gertrude Ederle. It does not deeply innovate in terms of narrative but it does an excellent job in depicting a ground breaking woman who’s work is still impactful today. However, with Daisy Ridley, the spectacular and somewhat nostalgic color scheme as well as the generally strong scenes of a historic sports movie make it well worth the watch.. This, however, shows that apart from the criticisms that were written on the film; there is enough proof that the public is able to watch, and is empowered enough to celebrate the rags to riches or triumph over adversity genre.