The latest film by the Italian and international director is in theaters, staging a 13-year-long three-way story in which two games are played. On the tennis court and in love. The prize is the same, the girl loved by two friends who become rivals.
I saw her kissing him kissing him kissing her. No, it is not the (wrong) lyrics of Annalisa’s Mon Amour. It could be the soundtrack to Challengers, new film by Luca Guadagnino, which instead chooses Pensiero Stupendo by Patty Pravo. Screenplay by Justin Kuritzkes. Despite the setting and the title, taken from the second category international tournament circuit, it’s not a film about tennis. As the director and cast specified. Tennis is used as a metaphor for lifeboth in love and in work. In a three-way game. An anomaly for a sport where the numbers in this case are even, 2 or 4. She is the beautiful and unfortunate Tashi Duncan, played by teen idol Zendaya. The rising star of American tennis whose dreams fall apart after a serious injury. The actress he worked for three months with Brad Gilbert, coach of Andre Agassi among others. Small aside, the tennis racket seems like the fate of Spiderman’s Mary Janes. Kirsten Dunst in Wimbledon, Emma Stone in Battle of the Sexes and finally Zendaya in Challengers. Of the three protagonists of Guadagnino’s film, she is the one with the brightest future. The one who would have been a champion if her knee hadn’t cracked (and felt good). The femme fatale, perhaps too much so, who says she doesn’t want to ruin families but contributes to ruining a friendship. Between Patrick and Art played by Josh O’Connor (the young Prince Charles in The Crown) and Mike Faist (Spielberg’s West Side Story). Two boys who do not shine with intelligence and maturity. Sometimes irritating but not really unpleasant. A more bold and fiery one. The other, it seems, is the classic good guy. Colder.
A film that is divided into two parts contrasting. The first is more tender and lighterwe are in the phase of discoveries and dreams of adolescence. The second is darker, angrier, like the protagonist’s mood. The union and complicity of the two boys is shattered when they compete for the same girl. Which at the beginning of the challenge you are offering as a prize to the winner. The breakdown of the friendship was inevitable, but it seemed a bit forced. But without which there obviously would not have been the desired evolution. In a continuous flashback and forward a story of 13 years of life, relationships, victories and defeats. The stage is the tennis court. Even if we say it without fear of offending Luca Guadagnino, there are several imperfections both technical and refereeing. And the translation needs to be revised here and there. But the choice of shots of the game, in which the spectator can even identify with the crazy yellow ball, is original and should be rewarded. The soundtrack is also noteworthy, written by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross.
Setting United States. A blow to the heart for anyone who has been to the US Open at least once, the corridors of the Arthur Ashe with the photos of past champions hanging on the walls but also the outdoor tables of the food area. Where fans take refuge to eat and drink between one game and another. Although Challengers begins and ends at Challenger in New Rochelle, Westchester County, New York. Where the match/challenge between the now former friends takes place. Between the champion trying to regain confidence before aiming for the US Open title (Art), and the other looking for points to enter the qualifying tournament (Patrick). A crossroads that is not random but designed by who if not Tashi, to test her husband who as a junior was never able to beat her then friend.
Challengers is a physical film. In all senses. You can feel the fatigue on the court where you sweat like not even Rafa Nadal. Drops of sweat that are part of the largest and most detailed representation of the male body. Physical film also for continuous contact, in everyday life, in a non-contact sport. She is the one holding the threads of the (double) game, Tashi. That after abandoning her dream of becoming a professional tennis player she becomes Art’s coach, and then wife and turns him into a champion but in reality his influence on him goes far beyond technique and tactics. His are the simplest and strongest sentences in the film. From “There is more than tennis” (when explaining his decision to go to Stanford University, a “I’m only good at hitting the ball with the racket”. But most of all “Playing tennis is like having a relationship”. Others, however, are less successful like “Maschietti bianca” at a moment in the film where you think perhaps it could have been shortened a little. Although Zendaya’s character seems to dominate over the two suitors, a kiss in which she is a spectator is the most significant image, but the truth is that despite her she is destined to be a spectator of what happens where she dreamed of being the protagonist. On the tennis court. He is certainly the protagonist in the love challenge. From the beginning of the threesome story we ask ourselves Which of the two will you choose? A question that goes on until the end. In the middle we realized that she knew both of us well. It’s not a heartbreaking love story that makes your heart beat and dream. It’s not even a story of strong and comforting friendship, even if at times it is the truest and most positive feeling in the film. We said at the beginning that it is not a film about tennis. But tennis is chosen to give a home to history. It is therefore inevitable for professionals to hear the screeching noise of some gear in its representation. An endless story of three in a world where it is said that flirtations between male and female tennis players bloom and fade like flowers. A closed circle. Maybe too much? Who knows if Tashi hadn’t gotten injured, she would probably have left the two lovers to struggle in the challengers and she would have gotten engaged to a handsome champion. But it didn’t happen that way. So what is Challengers? A continuous game between complicity and conflict, understanding and rivalry, ambition and failure. A game to be played until the end. Everyone can interpret it however they want. Like the ending. Because cinema is beautiful for this too. And perhaps the right question in the end could be why do we have to choose?
