In 2013, at the age of 64, Diana Nyad swam the distance between Cuba and Florida, 177 kilometers. This was his fifth attempt. This gives an idea of the level of determination of the famous marathon swimmer. Directed by Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin, Nyad (Unsinkable) shows an absolutely brilliant Annette Bening in the role of this inspiring champion. In that of Bonnie Stoll, the indispensable coach and best friend, Jodie Foster also impresses.
For the record, we owe Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin the remarkable — and Oscar-winning — documentary Free Solo, on full solo climber Alex Honnold. This means that the duo of filmmakers know a thing or two about extraordinary athletes.
Moreover, what is immediately attractive in Nyad, it is the film’s clear desire not to present a smooth, hagiographic vision of the subject. So it is apparent, from the outset, that Diana Nyad (who gave her approval to the film) is a consummate egomaniac as well as an unapologetic misanthrope. But it passes, the thing being treated with humor.
A humor which emanates most of the time from the knowing glances and conciliatory silences of Bonnie, the only person for whom Diana seems to have respect, or perhaps the only person capable of enduring Diana, as you wish.
Both lesbians, both single, Diana and Bonnie have been inseparable for decades, and their complicity is total. This is why the first enlists the second as a coach when she decides overnight to resume swimming years after having retired from competition. This, even if Bonnie never held such a position.
For Diana, it’s a question of trust, not experience: a decision that perfectly sums up the kind of relationship they have.
The best of two genres
Why this sudden desire to swim, without stopping, and without resorting to an anti-shark cage, from Havana to Key West? For two reasons.
First, because after many similar accomplishments, such as having swum around the island of Manhattan, Diana had attempted this Cuba-Florida crossing in vain at the age of 28. This rare failure continues to haunt her. Then, because when she reached sixty, she realized that the world had nothing to do with her. However, she refuses to wait wisely for death.
Like the iconoclastic heroine of The old woman who walked in the sea, Diana has no use for diktats, whatever they may be. She prefers to dive and push the limits: those established by society, and those of her own body.
The result is galvanizing. Fact, Nyad combines the best of biographical drama, notably for this absence of complacency already mentioned, and sporting drama: each stage of training, then of the exploit, is punctuated by small victories, painful setbacks, doubts and setbacks on background of absolute pugnacity.
The tsunami and the tide
The production is in line with the protagonist, namely robust and vigorous. These two hours pass at lightning speed. We can certainly regret a handful of sequences of hallucinations (induced by exhaustion) with digital effects of fairly average quality, but that is little given the brilliance of Annette Bening and, perhaps especially, of Jodie Foster. In that, if the star ofAmerican Beauty (American beauty) is breathtaking in the most “showy” title role, the star of Silence of the Lambs (Thesilenceofthelambs) is no less virtuoso in his portrayal of Bonnie.
To remain in the oceanic images, Bening is like a tsunami which sweeps away everything in its path, carrying within its furious bosom the whole range of emotions. Conversely, Foster acts like the tide, constant, fascinating, and casually capable of changing the face of entire continents through patience.
And this is undoubtedly the key to this almost fusional friendship: the tireless temperament of one, and the immutable nature of the other. The exploration of this privileged relationship proves as captivating as the heroine’s prowess.