Dive Movie Review: as a film is good but very little risky
Mexican films have addressed different and varied topics throughout their history, some very good productions and others that remained in an attempt to only entertain.
When we talk about “based on true events” we well know that what is told and described has a fictional part that makes things more digestible for the viewer, a case that may or may not work and depends a lot on what is want to count
Much has been said that Mexican cinema is currently experiencing its best moment despite all the problems it has had, bringing new ideas and new proposals to the big screen, a renewal that has partially benefited the industry without fully exploiting everything yet. it’s potential.
The fall is a production that portrays what is behind the sport and what happens around those athletes who are looking for the opportunity to get to occupy a place in international competitions, demonstrating that in our country there is not only artistic talent but also sports talent.
What is the film about?
Mariel (Karla Souza) is a diver with dreams of greatness who little by little succumbs to the desire for fame and success. Obtaining them will not be easy as she is a veteran of this sport and it is her last chance to participate in the Olympic Games, when a terrible truth comes to light she will be forced to face her past.
It is true that not all that glitters is gold and that things are not always what they seem, this tape has caused controversy because it is based on a true event that many athletes have experienced throughout their careers to achieve a dream, a goal, a purpose, but if we add to this all the corruption that exists around those who organize and are responsible for Mexican sports, then things change.
The reconstruction of the case that happened in 2004 can have an indeterminate scope, especially in times when the scandal already has normality in which everything is part of a morbid entertainment in which this type of scandal serves more for this than to denounce abuses.
The adapted facts have a variant that means that everything we see is concealed or is treated in a semi-anonymous way. To begin with, its protagonist does not have the real name of Azul Almazán but rather Mariel, a prominent trampoline athlete who, after several attempts, is About to qualify for the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, close to 30 years old, she is considered a veteran and faces what her last chance to show that with her years of experience she can withstand the pressure of training and be able to get a medal is.
Those desires for fame and success have a price to pay, it is not only the fact that one trains and has the necessary discipline, much less a personal and professional goal, but it also is the fact of what is behind it and the bureaucracy of the organizers, in a very general and global way we can see what these sports athletes face, the law of the strongest prevails or in this case the one with the most influence in high circles which allows them the opportunity to qualify for a place in one of the highest competitions in the world, obviously this does not guarantee that they will win, much less that by participating they will be recognized in the way they deserve.
What we can see in the first few minutes is the presentation of the characters, we know their limitations, their medical problems, and their bad habits, but also their determination to qualify and compete. As expected, the situation becomes even more complicated for its protagonist when his partner in springboard routines for the combined specialties in which they are going to compete, is injured and is assigned a replacement, Nadia (Deja Ebergenyi), a teenager with great potential and who is expected to have a bright future in diving.
The age difference throws Mariel out of control, who in one way or another sees her life reflected in her sporting beginnings in her partner, that illusion, that reckless temperament of “I can handle everything and everyone” that strength and energy that she has can be overwhelming for an adult who is about to finish a cycle without having done anything, the real competition is not to qualify for the Olympic games but to be on a par with his new partner, there are very obvious things in the relationship they have, there is no personal chemistry that identifies them as friends, each one competes with the other, we see the frustrating side of the youth who aspire to something better than to be the companion of a veteran.
As I said before, not everything is what it seems, the real conflict in the story is when something shocking is revealed, Nadia’s mother accuses Braulio (Hernán Mendoza) who is also Mariel’s trainer of sexual abuse, and Mariel begins to live with the dilemma of keeping quiet or reporting, we know that this man is talented in what he does and that he can give him the long-awaited pass to qualify for the Olympic games but we also know that he is a manipulator of shit and despot in his treatment, it is also revealed that he He has the protection of the Mexican Olympic Committee who serves as a cover for his acts of abuse.
Something that must be recognized about this project is its narrative, step by step it shows and reveals the hypocrisy and corruption in which we currently live, where society has made us believe that we must sacrifice part of our lives to have a little recognition, be it from family, friends, our partner or even in the workplace, social networks have played a vital role in this, we know of the challenges that several young people have faced and that it has cost them their lives to stand out in a competitive virtual world in which showing that we are better than others by way of “likes” is the most important thing.
The script written by Lucía Puenzo, Tatiana Mereñuk, Monica Herrera, Samara Ibrahim, and María Renée Prudencio does not go to the side of feminism as one might think, this is intended to be a complaint and a very limited vision of the facts, a complaint against all those who think that a veteran woman in sports is no longer capable of being taken into account to compete and not because of her gender but because of her experience in a sport, what they want is for many women who have experienced sexual abuse to feel identified with this conflict, it is intended to be a motivating catalyst for it to be denounced and that works very halfway here, as a story it has potential but it is the script itself that hinders development because once again we see that it does not risk telling things as are.
During the first half of the film we already know who is who and what has happened, that there is a complaint against Nadia and Mariel’s coach, with the result that there will be consequences, that Braulio is supported by his union even though more than one knows what is guilty, then we see the pressure and degradation to which Nadia’s mother is subjected until she finally gives in and retracts what she said so as not to further harm the sporting image of her daughter or that of her partner who More than being that, he sees in what happened an opportunity to continue being at the head of this duo.
Towards its end, we see that Mariel decides to face her traumas and sees reality as it is, in the end, it is not so important to win a medal, nor to participate in the Olympics, the important thing here is to be upright as a person and athlete, a more than the predictable ending for its protagonist but not for its antagonist who doesn’t suffer any consequences for his abuses, which makes it frustrating for us as viewers that nothing is done about it and that shit people like that keep doing what they do back up by other shit like him and worst of all, they put Mexican sport as something secondary that does not deserve worldwide recognition.
The director Lucía Puenzo does a very dry, good job, we have left halfway again when presenting the strongest part of this conflict, one of the big flaws is that we already know what happens from the synopsis and the trailer, and when it is presented on the tape it is no longer surprising because it is not handled in a way in which we can think that this is wrong, on the one hand, the abusive coach, on the other the victim and finally the one who knows everything and is silent, everything happens in a framework of normality in which we can think and ask “ahh ok they already abused her but are they going to go to the Olympics or not?” All this part of the story that is strong in itself and that has great development potential falls, as in many other productions of its type, into morbidity and here we no longer care if they suffered or not, if there were consequences or not, what What we want is to see someone who was on top and has fallen to our delight and entertainment.
The message it carries is wrong because rather than denouncing everything, everything is becoming a circus in which what matters is seeing that someone has done badly and comparing it with our own lives, something that neither the director nor her scriptwriters took into account. At the moment of structuring a joint work that had a common goal and that things were presented with the due respect they deserve, it is noticeable that they avoided falling into the morbid at all costs and that in the end, it did not work, as an audience, we are more critical and difficult as far as the cinema produced in our country is concerned, we can be very hypocritical and permissive with foreign films but we criticize what is done here, calling it bad or mediocre even though it has a very good quality.
Little is said here about the consequences of abuse, we well know that it caused trauma but that it is not fully explored, it is not daring in that sense, I faithfully believe that to carry a story with a subject like this one must have a very broad vision of things taking into account the public to which it is directed, not all of us understand or understand the scope that this may have and of course hurt sensibilities, or it is done as it should or better not done because over and over again we have left halfway or the messages are wrong.
The performances are convincing, but we must recognize that Karla Souza has evolved a lot as an actress and that here the role of Mariel falls short of her histrionic capacity, we know that in her very particular case she could have given more in a better-structured script and with the most decisive direction, on the side of the antagonist Hernán Mendoza shows with his talent that he is perfect for this character and confirms once again that he is one of the best actors that our country has given but that he is also far above his history and it is here where we see that these 2 actors are over-qualified to represent these characters that exist in real life under other names but have been treated in a very soft way by their director and by a script that at times falls into the mediocre and boring.
The cast is complemented by Dèja Ebergenyi, Fernanda Borchers, Claudia Lobo, Enrique Singer, Mabel Cadena, Christian Vazquez, and María Renée Prudencio who do what they can with what they have and who are convincing on a very basic level since each one of them It could have developed its characters more if (we return to the point) the script was more solid and much better structured.
The music composed by Mauricio Gonzo Arroyo has its moments, but it falls far short of expectations, although the pieces are good, they don’t have enough impact when you need to tell or reveal something that has an impact on the plot.
In conclusion, Dive is a film that intends to carry a message but is wrong when it comes to presenting it, a film that entertains due to its morbidity rather than its background, a film that remains halfway between what could have been and what It is, a tape that fails to highlight its main conflict that is overshadowed by other subplots that seem more interesting to us.
The Fall is now available on Prime Video.
