Is tennis a sexy sport? So so. Elegant, fascinating, once elitist, made of brushstroke, Caravaggesque gestures. But mostly repetitive and muscular: pop popas Adriano Panatta said in The Armadillo Prophecy. And Zendaya? Yes, she’s sexy, a modern type: more turbaned and sulky than Chai, the Fremen warrior of Dunes than as SpiderMan Tom Holland’s girlfriend, in the saga and in real life. And Luca Guadagnino’s cinema? More disturbing and disturbing than sexy. The goal is to mix things up. We are talking about a cinema of nightmares and metaphors rather than dreams. Sexually restless, in pursuit of extreme emotions.
Tennis represented by Guadagnino is a psychological ring. A chess game that goes beyond sport. The winner is the one who dominates, in the net, in love, in interpersonal relationships and under the sheets. In addition, there is a new definition of triangle: with a girl who is the object of desire of two men, but she is able to keep them on her embers and, if necessary, make them burn with passion. All three lovers are immersed in a sweaty, plastic, circular physicality, where the G factor (which stands for gender) does not matter. Very announced physicality. And then, lived and played, on and off the field.
A puzzle to solve. Without anything patriarchal or feminist. Guadagnino usually uses bold connections to weave his existential web: think of the cannibals of Bones and Allmasks of internal discomfort. Challengers it is therefore a complex and also light comedy, with mystery, epic (sports) and humor. It suggests that anything can happen, that the game can be reversed at any moment, right down to the last shot. There is a theatrical aspect to take into account when evaluating the film, which has nothing to do with the stracitato Match Points by Woody Allen. Guadagnino creates containers: he puts the pulp, the actors put it, and even the spectators. The triangle consists of Tashi (Zendaya), Patrick (Josh O’Connor) and Art (Mike Feist). She, he & him. The queen bee and the two bumblebees: between them there is a secret communication channel. They are three compatible human beings who meet, touch each other, smooth out their differences. They take each other and leave them. They try to love each other. Sex is evoked, tested, spoken about.
Written by debutant Justin Kuritzkes, husband of the director of Past LivesCeline Diong, set to double-stave music by Atticus Ross and Trent Raznor, with acid photography by Sayombhu Mukdeepromseems like a story from the start duelists of which the world of sport is full. Patrick Zweig and Art Davidson compete, and lose, and win. The picture breaks down due to the merit/fault of the former champion and now coach Tashi Duncan.
Tashi is a woman who places herself on the horizon of two men, choosing first one and then the other and then both. She determines expectations, hopes, prospects. She is the tip of the balance of their behaviors, the focal point of their thoughts. Art, Tashi’s husband, was a promise that lost its share. Patrick is more solid, he knows how to dare. The tournaments are the framework, the love skirmish is the design.
There is a volley and smash game in the flashbacks too. As well as in the actions of the characters. Nobody looks back: everyone wants to win, even if and the tactics are up for guessing. The geometric synchronism of a match without tie breaks governs the intersecting desire of the three players: it is the framework on which the adventure develops. Guadagnino recalls in the title, Challengers, the tournament circuit that is one step behind the best ranking and the Slams. It is as always subversive, aestheticizing, baroque. A friendly scoundrel now held hostage by Hollywood sirens. Sometimes he forgets that the ball is arriving on the racket and fiddles around, glossing over details to attempt impossible solutions. To arrive at a cinema that looks like a mosaicwell built but cold.
Men don’t make a good impression. Women hold the reins, not always as winners. Then there are the fragilities, the bluffs, the bad consciences. Zendaya, 27, has long conquered the role of multi-ethnic star: here she takes a decisive step forward. She can be considered, with good reason, a mature and futuristic actress.
CHALLENGERS by Luca Guadagnino
(USA, 2024, duration 131′, Warner Bros. Pictures)
with Zendaya, Mike Faist, Josh O’Connor, Nadia Despotovich, AJ Lister, Connor Aulson, Christine Dye
Rating: *** ½ out of 5
In the rooms
