I knew absolutely nothing about Swimming Upstream when I saw it on the tv schedule - but hey, there was nothing else decent on, so I said I'd give it a shot.
Turns out to be based on the autobiography of Tony Fingleton, an Australian champion swimmer who got a scholarship to Harvard, became a screenwriter, and stayed in the States. This film, however, concentrates on his rise to stardom, and his life in Australia - in particular, his fractious relationship with his alcoholic, pushy father (Geoffrey Rush), whose ambition damaged Tony's relationship with his brother - also a promising swimmer.
Very watchable, this - and Geoffrey Rush does (as usual) a brilliant job in portraying the alternately charming and vicious drunk. No trouble at all, either, to watch groups of fit, damp young men compete in competition after competition.. Not the greatest of films, but worth a look - if nothing else is standing out.
I'm thinking film for tomorrow. Had the same thought a couple of nights ago, actually - but being sick to the teeth of nature documentaries, I thought I'd finally avail of my Mubi membership. Three months' free trial, and I hadn't availed of it yet! Still haven't, really - highest rated on it at the moment is Kurosawa's last epic (as advertised) - Ran. The Japanese version of King Lear, really. So, I tried to watch it. Twice. The first time, I gave up after about 10 minutes - there was so much buffering, I'd got through under 3 minutes' worth of material. The second time, I did a bit better - managed 26 mins worth of material in just over an hour. Both times, I got tired and gave up. Third time lucky..?
What I can say about the first 26 minutes is - it's quite shouty, the (16th Century) costumes are really weird, and the scenery is spectacular. Dunno what the problem with Mubi is - I don't have the same issue with YouTube, or any of the theatre websites. Watch this space..
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