Julie zwijgt 2024 WEB.HC Download via Magnet
41/36
Julie is a star player at an elite tennis academy. When her coach comes under scrutiny and is suddenly suspended, all the players at the club are encouraged to speak out. But Julie decides to stay quiet. Official entry of Belgium for the Best International Feature Film category of the 97th Academy Awards 2025. Saw it at the Ghent Film Festival 2024. Many scenes show tennis training and the like, but not to an extent that it would be annoying, not even for someone (like me) who is not into sports, any sport. The issues shown are current, and we see many similar cases on TV and in newspapers, from rumors to openly claimed to legally proven. What we also see clearly here is that we never find out what exactly happened, how far it went, and how long it lasted, mainly due to privacy concerns of both the accused and the victims. The latter is my problem with this film. When the credits appeared, I still didn’t know what the real issue was. The word “quit” is used very often by Jeremy (the accused coach), repeatedly emphasizing that he quit as soon as Julie said she wanted him to quit. So is this a case of sexual harassment?? It is noteworthy that Julie reacted strongly when she learned that Jeremy had gotten a job as a coach elsewhere (we know this tactic of “transferring” from the church and sexual abuse cases). She also asked her newly appointed coach if he would be willing to continue working with her if Jeremy was put back in his old job. Another unresolved issue is why Julie remained silent and refused to attend the talks organized by officials who are required to do “something”. Did she not want to disclose her reasons for her silence and staying out of the ongoing investigation?? Or is it a mix of guilt for asking Jeremy to quit too late?? I can only guess what her reasoning was. (Maybe I missed something and was that clear to everyone else who saw the same film?) All in all, interesting for tennis lovers and also for others interested in the main “me too” theme of this film. The interspersed tennis training scenes do not dominate or distract from the main themes. We see Julie in many scenes and many moods and she manages to keep us intrigued with the developments of the story throughout the running time. The other young actors involved also did a good job.