Young Woman and the Sea
Directed by Joachim Rønning
Trudy Ederle’s Courageous and Inspiring Channel Crossing
Based on Glenn Stout’s 2009 novel and directed by Joachim Rønning, Young Woman and the Sea recounts an exhilarating true story. It chronicles the journey of Gertrude “Trudy” Ederle (Daisy Ridley), the first woman to swim across the English Channel. Born to immigrant parents in New York in 1905, with the support of her sister Meg (Tilda Cobham-Hervey) and coach Bill Burgess (Stephen Graham), Trudy overcame societal and patriarchal adversities to rise through the ranks of the Olympic swimming team and achieve a remarkable feat: a 21-mile swim from France to England. Trudy accomplished this in 14 hours and 34 minutes.
Trudy began her swim from Cape Gris-Nez, France, at 07:08 on August 6, 1926, landing in Kingsdown, Kent, 14 hours and 34 minutes later. Her record was genuine and world-class. Before Trudy, only five other swimmers – all men – had completed the Channel swim, with the best time being Enrique Tirabocchi’s 16 hours and 33 minutes: Trudy beat it by two hours! While her record was eventually broken by another woman, Florence Chadwick, in 1950 with a time of 13 hours and 23 minutes, the significance of Trudy’s accomplishment lies beyond the numbers.
The saying goes that records are meant to be broken: it is the essence of sportsmanship. The improvement of times represents competition, growth, and the personal sacrifices that lead to immortal glory, the kind found in medals, almanacs, or even better, history books. However, the significance of Young Woman and the Sea is not solely about Trudy’s 1926 record but about what that record symbolizes. During that time, women were not allowed to swim, let alone learn how to swim.
With her record, Trudy Ederle marked a crucial milestone in the fight for women’s emancipation and equal opportunities, challenging the absurd constructs of the patriarchal society of her era. This brings us to Young Woman and the Sea, and why Jerry Bruckheimer chose to acquire the rights to Stout’s novel in 2015. Initially, the film was to be produced by Paramount Pictures with Lily James in the lead role. Despite promising beginnings, the project stalled in development hell, with screenwriter Jeff Nathanson unable to make progress.
In 2020, Walt Disney Pictures announced the film’s production, casting Daisy Ridley as Trudy Ederle and entrusting the narrative to Rønning. This was a shrewd decision, considering the Norwegian director had already made his mark in the Disney realm (Pirates of the Caribbean 5, Maleficent 2) and was well-suited for biopics (Max Manus, Kon-Tiki). The result is an emotionally rich Young Woman and the Sea, blending vivid realism with a dense, rooted scenic context – the perfect recipe to honor the epic nature of a historic feat.
However, the film’s celebratory tone – presented in a narratively analytical retelling of the event – combined with the well-known nature of the story and its linear, fluid development, devoid of dramatic twists, leaves no room for dramatic tension within the narrative. Yet, this is of little consequence. Rønning’s film is not aimed at those well-versed in Trudy Ederle’s feat but at younger audiences seeking role models and stories to dream of a better future. In this, Daisy Ridley’s serene and reassuring presence is a genuine certainty. Young Woman and the Sea is a film for everyone, a film that does good.
Francesco Parrino
The Hot Corn, May 30, 2024
