Writer and Director: Elliott Hasler
Vindication Swim, written and directed by Elliott Hasler, takes its inspiration from real-life swimmer, Mercedes Gleitze. In 1927, at her eighth attempt, Gleitze became the first British woman to swim the Channel. Jeopardy is provided by a rival swim a few days later by another British swimmer, Dorothy Cochrane Logan (here renamed Edith Gade), who claimed to have completed the swim in two hours’ less, time, thereby discrediting Gleitz’s achievement. Gade’s swim is revealed to be a hoax, but there remains a question mark over Gleitz’s reputation: what evidence was there that she had actually managed the 15 hour attempt when there was no official from the Channel Swimming Association present? The determined Gleitze responds by announcing her intention of completing a ‘vindication swim’. But the weather conditions which had been so propitious for her first attempt now turn wintry. In the end, she is forced to abandon the attempt a few miles short of Dover. Nonetheless, her now well-documented second attempt proves her extraordinary ability to survive in very cold water and the CSA decides to validate her first attempt.
It’s a heroic story, but is it a filmic one? Of necessity there are long sequences of Gleitze swimming, first in an indoor pool in London, then in the Thames and finally in the astonishingly clear blue waters of the English Channel. It’s a low-budget production – all the more admirable for being so – but it means that the opportunity to film Gleitze from different perspectives as she proceeds with her stately breast stroke is limited. The single rowing boat which accompanies both attempts is filmed, we must assume, from another moving boat, the result being that it often appears to be moving backwards. A scene of imminent danger is signalled by ominous music “and Harold Best roaring: “That steamer is heading straight for us!. But filmically the apparent proximity of ship and swimmer can’t be convincingly shown. Much of the film is shot in atmospheric black and white. The switch to colour for scenes of the sea and seashore makes for contrast, but the significance of the switch is unclear.
Gleitze’s story is one of impressive determination. But it is not a Chariots of Fire tale of complex relationships and pacy athletic meets. In the film, Gleitze, rejected by the Amateur Swimming Association, tracks down a former swimming coach, the fictional Harold Best, who, sunk in alcoholism and depression, rises to the challenge. He is wonderfully portrayed by character actor, John Locke, whose craggy face and intense expressions tend to steal every scene. Kirsten Callaghan plays Gleitze herself, to whom, judging from archive footage, she bears a striking similiarity. We are given glimpses of the inspirational figure of her now-dead Jewish father and watch as Gleitze herself faces anti-semitic micro-aggressions. But Callaghan is not given much to work with, and her distintinctive old-fashioned RP comes across as rather effortful, hobbling her attempts to round out Gleitze’s character. The script makes her rival, Edith Gade, an out-and-out villainess, giving actor Victoria Summer no choice but to go for a one-note performance.
A worthy but flawed film.
Vindication Swim will be in UK Cinemas from 8th March.
