Barracuda (2016)
Barracuda (2016)
Synopsis (adapted from IMDB):
Danny Kelly (Elias Anton), a talented swimmer, attends a prestigious Melbourne private school on a sporting scholarship. Working class, he is the target of harassment from the privileged students. Danny yearns to win swimming gold at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. He is taken under the wing of highly regarded coach, Frank Torma (Matt Nable) and develops a friendship/rivalry with teammate Martin Taylor (Ben Kindon), which inspires Danny to become a world record holder.
Review:
Barracuda is an Australian miniseries, consisting of four roughly 55-minute episodes, based on the 2013 book of the same name by Christos Tsiolkas. Set in Australia, it tells the story of Danny Kelly, a talented working-class swimmer who wins a sporting scholarship to attend a prestigious private school. As a definite outsider coming into the school, he unsettles the status quo as the other boys in the school swim team recognise their position being threatened. Danny has an incredibly supportive family - especially his mother who is a hairdresser – his father is a long-distance lorry driver, and he also has a younger sister and brother. Danny lives and breathes swimming, and his coach at the new school, Hungarian-born Frank Torma, really believes he could be the very best and make it to the Olympics one day.
I really enjoyed the plot of Barracuda and while at times it is a slow burner, it is worth sticking with. Initially we see a headstrong Danny, whose whole world is swimming, and while he is hoping to make his family proud, he is largely trying to match his own expectations of being the best. He’s at times selfish and under-appreciative of his family and coach because he is so one-track-minded about being the best. Over the course of the miniseries, we see Danny develop. After initially being treated badly by the other boys in the swim team, after he proves his talent and worth, they begin to accept him, and he builds a strong bond with team captain Martin. Danny subtly starts to develop feelings for Martin. Martin who is from a wealthy, high-achieving family seems to reciprocate these feelings in a restrained way. While there are few physical scenes of affection between Danny and Martin, it is interesting to see the development of Danny over the miniseries as he starts to care for Martin and how he displays that affection. He represses so much of his feelings in order to focus on his swimming, but there are moments of release.
There are a few stand out scenes between Danny and Martin. When Martin invites Danny to a family weekend away, the two boys dream about the future swimming successes they’ll have together and then both masturbate at the same time while staying in the same room. This is the first time their bond gets physical in any way. Later Martin underperforms at a competition, essentially ending his Commonwealth hopes, but he continues to support Danny at the National Championships where Danny breaks a world record – Danny in his celebrations says to Martin ‘I did it for you.’ We can now see that Danny is no longer swimming for just himself, he is swimming for his team of himself and Martin. Martin on the other hand realises his swimming career may be coming to an end and tries to move on from it by getting a girlfriend to focus his attentions instead. This is where we see Danny and Martin’s bond start to falter. Danny still wants to become a champion together with Martin, whereas Martin is preparing for a future after swimming.
Danny’s loyalties throughout the miniseries are inconsistent. He takes his family for granted and leaves behind his coach Torma for a new coach at a swimming institute – however throughout he remains loyal to Martin. After failing at the institute, he returns with his tail between his legs to Torma, with Martin re-joining him as a swimming partner. Danny is overwhelmed at Martin’s support and asks him to come to the Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur to support him. Martin who has not qualified, initially seems hesitant but eventually agrees. Danny then kisses him, and Martin gently kisses back. Danny has found someone who he wants to make proud and it is clear how much Danny cares for Martin. When Martin doesn’t end up coming to the Commonwealth Games and Danny underperforms, he is clearly broken – without his teammate he can’t do it. A couple of years later a drunk Danny admits to Martin ‘I fucking loved you.’ Danny’s journey in the series started alone, where he did everything for himself, but as he fell in love with Martin, Danny started doing it all for the both of them.
Danny is not always likeable, but his journey with Martin shows some important things about class, sexuality and expectations. Danny has a supportive family who give all they can to make him thrive and be the best he can be, whereas Martin’s family put massive pressure on him to succeed and make their disappointment know when he fails to deliver. Danny as a working-class boy makes his family proud and they want to do whatever they can to support him in his goals, while Martin struggles to meet his family’s expectation – Martin must be the very best otherwise they will let him know he is a failure, which is why he is so hesitant to be with Danny as a partner after he fails at swimming, so instead he turns his focus to fitting his family’s image by getting a nice girlfriend.
Barracuda is very swimming heavy, but there’s some lovely shots, especially underwater. Danny’s journey has its twists and turns, and if you stick with it the whole way through there are some powerful messages about what actually defines success and failure. Coming first in races and winning medals may be one kind of victory, but our relationships with other people can also be regarded as successes - there’s no point being alone at the top.
Favourite Quote:
“In 1973, I was at the world championships. And this is my big chance. And I was so excited. So excited that I false started in the heat. Just fell in the water. And I was disqualified. And that was it. All over. Everybody fucks up, Danny. Everyone. You don't have to be afraid of that. Just don't let it be the boss. You have to face your mistakes. Ah, what do I know, huh?” - Frank Torma
Tone: Tense
Score: 7/10
Other observations:
I like the scene at the family weekend with Martin’s family between Danny and Martin’s grandma. She takes a shine to him and calls him ‘authentic’. Danny is where he is because of talent, whereas most of Martin’s family are where they are out of privilege.
I also like the scene between Danny and his old school friend, Demet. She comes over to his and talks about having kissed another girl. Danny seems unsure and doesn’t know how to react. Earlier in the conversation Danny mentions how he doesn’t have time to think because he’s so applied to swimming. This could all indicate that at that point he hadn’t had time to come to terms with his sexuality yet and when Demet talks about kissing another girl it troubles Danny as it makes him take a look at his own latent homosexuality.
Danny’s family are such a supportive family and the worst thing about Danny is how much he undervalues them. His father works so hard to support the family and Danny puts him down as unsuccessful. And Danny’s mum is such a dedicated mother. The scene where she meets the other mothers of the boys on the swim team is one of note – she so clearly doesn’t fit in with the private school scene, but the way she speaks about Danny she just believes so strongly in her son - she backs him unconditionally.
Frank Torma is by far my favourite character. He’s so loyal, fair and caring. He accepts that people make mistakes and he sticks with Danny when many others have given up on him. He’s a wonderful mentor figure.
I found it interesting how Torma left his house to three people: Danny, Tsitsas and someone from back in Hungary. Tsitsas (Joe Klocek) was the swimmer cut from the swim team when Danny joined, so Tsitsas reckons he was left his third of the house as a consolation prize. Torma clearly felt really bad about having to cut Tsitsas, but it’s surprising he left him part of his house!
Danny starts to rebuild himself at the end of the series by helping with the water therapy at the rehab centre. It’s not only nice to see Danny regain his love for water after his failed swimming career, but also seeing him share his love for swimming with those who need some support. I thought this was a lovely way to end the series.
