THE BEST TENNIS FILMS
Challengers by Luca Guadagnino has been stealing the show in recent weeks and is practically on everyone's lips. A film that, as expected, uses sport as a context (and perhaps as a metaphor) to tell a story of conquest, passion and above all conflict. In this regard, it becomes more than legitimate to ask what drives directors to use sport as a viaticum for their stories: as often happens in cinema, apparently central elements can occupy an important space that allows the real themes of the film to flow properly towards the viewer's mind. We shouldn't talk about "tennis films" per se, but about films that have been able to make the most of the dynamics of this sport to tell stories of various kinds in the most interesting way possible. Here are 5 that will make the wait for Guadagnino's new film sweeter.
1. Match Point (2005)
We cannot talk about cinema and tennis without mentioning one of the most impressive and successful works of Woody Allen. According to the New York maestro, Match Point could be his best film: a story of intrigue and ambition that becomes a delicate match between truth and lies. A confrontation fought blow for blow when a former tennis player, now an instructor, finds himself in a twisted game of passions that will lead to nothing good. Perhaps not a film directly about sport, but a work that transcends its context to bring out a careful analysis of the importance of randomness in life - a founding theme for all of Allen's filmography after 2000.
< br />2. Borg McEnroe (2017)
A production decidedly more immersed in tennis, given that it talks about a real confrontation dramatized for the occasion. Much talked about upon its release, thanks to the over-the-top interpretations of its protagonists (in particular an unexpected Shia LaBoeuf) and a narrative process that almost hints at the grotesque in some situations, Borg McEnroe is loaded with tension and pathos until the explosive final match. It's not just sport, however, and perhaps this is precisely why the film manages to capture the viewer: Janus Metx and his actors gave weight to men, even before athletes
< br /> 3. The Battle of the Sexes (2017)
Another true story inspires the film by Jonathan Dayotn and Valerie Faris (famous directors of Little Miss Sunshine) starring Emma Stone< 2> and Steve Carell. The iconic '73 tennis match between Billie Jean King and the crazy Bobby Riggs, rendered with care and above all passion, manages to entertain while trying to tackle an extremely current topic. Obviously it is not the surgical precision in the transposition of history that should be of interest, but rather the strength with which that message of equality and freedom manages to touch common sentiment.
4. The fifth set (2020)
Probably the least known work of the selection, less didactic and with a more authorial inspiration (even if conventional by its very nature). Director Quentin Reynaud's film collects what it can from the experience of champions who were not and tells the story of revenge of Thomas, a former prodigy who never managed to emerge who decides to participate in the French Open at 37 years old. A film that does not want to squeeze as much as possible from the stylistic features of classic sports films, but which shows the darker side of the life of those who make competitive spirit their reason for existing.
5. A winning family - King Richard (2021)
The film that led Will Smith to win the Oscar on that crazy night that marked his career ( especially in the negative) is not the biopic everyone was expecting. The idea of making a film about the story of Venus and Serenza Williams, two legends of this sport, could easily lead to the most obvious and banal praise possible. King Richard is forced to do so only in part, because for the rest he manages to exploit a powerful and totemic image like that of Richard Williams to show the challenges of fatherhood in the face of prodigies and successes. A reminder, especially in Zach Baylin's screenplay, that a simple story can still surprise if written with the right care, from tennis for tennis.
Waiting to discover your opinion on Challengers, tell us your ideas about these films! Which one intrigued you the most and which in your opinion is the best film "about" tennis?
by Gabriele Cerrito of ScreenWorld.it for Filmamo