Jazz. Romance. Well, more jazz than romance. Learn to Swim takes us into the world of jazz. There is a music soundtrack and a language soundtrack. The words often flow like jazz all its own.
Dezi (Thomas Antony Olajide) and Selma (Emma Ferreira) are jazz musicians struggling in music and life. Their paths cross in the band. Dezi acts like he knows everything in terms of arrangement. He is also dealing with an abscessed tooth, a bad thing for a saxophone player to have.
Dezi is the film's focus. The story of a jazz player who struggles with, well, everything. The other members of the band want Dezi to be a part of what they are doing on a more consistent basis. That is not happening.
Romance is a very small part of the film. Dezi and Selma have a relationship, of sorts. The film tries to build up momentum to romance. The drawback is the characters, the logic, the odd romance that defies logic don't have much chemistry.
This isn't too much of an issue since there isn't much of the romance in the film.
We notice a lot of films take time to warm up. Learn to Swim has a great start. In many ways, the first third of the film is the best part of the film.
Thyrone Tommy (director, co-writer) and Marni Van Dyk (co-writer) let the film float through most of the rest of the film. The film is beautifully shot with a wonderful soundtrack so the audience is still engaged. Dezi's struggles are worth the price of admission.
The landlady, who has an eye out for Dezi, says Dezi is easy to love … in the beginning. Feels like the film, overall.
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There is a lot to like about Learn to Swim. The cinematography fits the mood of the film. The soundtrack is wonderful. The primary characters have enough flaws to be interesting. Learn to Swim has its own flaws.
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Learn to Swim made TIFF's annual year-end Canada's Top Ten list for 2021. Olajide and Ferreira were a part of TIFF's Rising Stars.
The film won a Canadian Screen Award in 2022 for Best Original Song for And Then We Don't by Tika Simone and Casey Manierka-Quaile. Olajide received a Canadian Screen Award nomination for Best Actor.
Learn to Swim is available in the United States on Netflix.
video credit: YouTube/TIFF Trailers
photo credit: Learn to Swim
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