Challengers

You can learn alot about a movie from the conversations that are had leaving the theater, whether they be the ones you have with your friends or overheard from other audience members.

Leaving my local theater in Los Angeles after seeing Luca Guadagnino’s “Challengers,” I heard the people behind me say - “for a movie that was supposed to be so sexy, they didn’t really show much, did they?”

When Luca’s masterpiece, “Call Me By Your Name” came out, there were similar rumblings - tied into the fact that two straight actors were playing out a gay sex scene from a very famous book (also written by a straight guy) that was much more graphic on the page. Instead of showing us the act itself, Luca chose to cut away to the open window. What no one was really writing about in regard to the sex scene in that film was the complicated feelings Elio had about the experience in the following scene at the lake. The expression of Elios’s thoughts, which are very much detailed in the book, were a major part of why Chalamet deserved the Oscar. The scene after the sex is a perfect example and the much more interesting part. Post coital angst, you might say.

Early on in “Challengers” Josh O’Connor’s Patrick and Mike Faist’s Art have invited up and coming tennis phenom, Tashi (Zendaya) back to their hotel room with hopes that one of them will have sex with her. The dialogue is incredible here. It’s the first time we see Tashi lead the boys to what she wants. When Art and Patrick kiss, this moment fills the screen. Sure, it’s hot, but there is so much more to the moment than the kiss. It’s Tashi’s reaction shot that reveals everything. About not only the boys’ relationship and Tashi’s desires, but also the film’s ending.

There is a later scene in a sauna where Patrick uses his naked body as a tool (pun intended) to stir Art. O’Connor is no stranger to nudity, and yet, Luca showed restraint here as well. Despite Art attempting to brush the offensive move off by asking if his dick was supposed to scare him, it was clear that Patrick’s nudity was less about what we the audience needed to see and more so Art. And honestly, earlier in the film, in the much talked about “Churro scene” it wasn’t a kiss or sex that took my breath away, but a quick shot of O’Connor pulling Faist’s chair closer to him before he even sat down that had my heart racing.

So, if the movie’s not about sex or even sexuality, then what? I think the clues lie in that first hotel scene and the very last moments of the movie.

If you haven’t seen the movie, skip this part!

SPOILERS
The film’s spine is a tennis match in the present day between Art and Patrick. By the time we get to the end of the film, we have seen all the bits of what led us to the match, but what I was uncertain about - and don’t get me wrong here - I am not even sure I didn’t know what I didn’t know - was what Tashi actually wanted from these two men.

AGAIN…spoilers!

Tashi tells Art that if he doesn’t win, she is leaving him. She also sleeps with Patrick the night before the match, in a ridiculous, but also perfectly executed and not at all subtle metaphoric windstorm. Near the end of the match, Patrick gives the adulterous trist away to Art in a move that I saw coming a mile away, Art is pissed, stunned, contemplative and in the end competitive again. He has his drive back. The film’s last moment is an embrace, with no clear winner of the Challenger match. Tashi yells, “Come on,” moments before the embrace because she already know that she has won. What did she win exactly? Well, I think that’s up to the audience to interpret. For me - it’s a reunited home between the three of them that is interlaced not only by wanting and desire, but drive and love. For each other, but more importantly the sport.

OK…end of SPOILERS.

Living in Los Angeles, you of course hear all sorts of people’s opinions about movies, which is part of the fun of it. Even as I roll my eyes, these opinions also makes me think, rethink, question or solidify my own thoughts. Walking home I found myself crossing the street to avoid armchair (movie chair?) experts loudly disecting the film’s final elements when I was only beginning to ruminate on them.

For me, Guadagnino is one of the top directors working today. He has made two of my favorite films of all time with “Call Me By Your Name” and “Suspiria,” and even when his works are not as strong, for me at least - such as with “Bones and All” and “Salvatore: Shoemaker of Dreams,” they are still more interesting and thought provoking that what most filmmakers are doing.

I loved “Challengers,” and I have continued to think about it and wonder where it stands in his film repertoire. I ask myself why did Luca use sound in the way he did, why did the final bit of the tennis go on and on quite a bit longer than I felt comfortable with. Why so much slow-motion. Why churros??? These questions are good and what I love about watching movies today. Maybe one day I’ll have answers. Maybe not. Until then I accpet that Luca had his reasons. I also have a deep understanding that the feelings I have about the movie, the lingering…that is the most important thing.