Barracuda (tv review)

BASED ON: Barracuda by Christos Tsiolkas

STARRING: Elias Anton, Matt Nable, Rachel Griffiths, Ben Kindon, Victoria Haralabidou, Jeremy Lindsay Taylor, Tilda Cobham-Hervey, Andrew Creer, Rhys Mitchell, Joe Klocek

DIRECTOR: Robert Connolly

WRITERS: Christos Tsiolkas, Blake Ayshford, Belinda Chayko

GENRE: drama/coming-of-age/sport

RATING: M

Danny Kelly (Elias Anton) is from a working-class Greek-Scottish family. He is granted a scholarship at a prestigious all boys school due to his incredible talent in the pool, but is shunned by his peers and teammates, including rival and previous golden-boy of the pool, Martin Taylor (Ben Kindon). Barracuda is about Danny’s Olympic ambitions, and the effect his pride, ego, and determination has on those around him. It's also about class division, identity struggles, and Australia’s fascination with sporting success.

As much as Barracuda is Danny’s story, what is engaging about it is all the relationships depicted. Barracuda’s strength is in depicting intimacy on various levels. I loved seeing the central friendship of a show between a male and female, and it was refreshing to see love between Danny and his parents so readily exchanged throughout the season, whether through words or actions. That level of familiarity isn’t often depicted in families. Danny and Martin's relationship was also beautifully handled, and it's conclusion not forced into a redemption story.

 

Matt Nable, Ben Kindon, Elias Anton, and Andrew Creer in Barracuda.

Alongside the relationships, Barracuda has beautifully written characters. They are so fully created that I was often talking to my TV, as if I could have a conversation with them. You could easily imagine being in their shoes, which made all of their journeys that much more interesting to watch. You felt for them and with them. From Danny and his family’s excitement over his new school uniform, to the triumph of the relay team’s win, to Martin’s anguish at his failure, and his mother’s indignation.

Running through Barracuda is also a notion of duality. Is Danny a student or swimmer? Straight or gay? Greek or Australian? A success or failure? Danny’s character is shown through the decisions he makes around these questions. Though sometimes we may think he's made the wrong choice, his character development across the season was acted out with such conviction by Anton, that you were still understanding of Danny at his lowest points; on his side and hopeful for a comeback.

 

Elias Anton as Danny Kelly in Barracuda

Barracuda has a nice pacing, which I find very Australian. The story and characters are given time to breathe, and equal importance is given to quieter emotional scenes, and dramatic high-points that drive the story. In particular, the end scene of episode three, which was almost brutality long from a viewer’s perspective. However, there were some jarring moments, like Danny’s sudden closeness with Martin and the Taylor family. He spends most of the second episode staying with the Taylors for Martin’s grandmother’s birthday, which was a jump from the insults and hate shared between Danny and Martin in the opening episode.

Barracuda would not have been as pleasurable to watch if not for the stunning directorial vision of Robert Connolly. Where multiple swimming sequences could have become tedious, the action was captured with an aesthetic quality that made those moments interesting. Perhaps the most stand-out demonstration being Danny’s underwater explosion of anger from episode three (seen below), which featured heavily in the trailer and is a brilliant example of the harmonic weaving of character and camera. 

 

For Australian’s, the entire season is available to watch on ABC iview until August 21. I highly recommend it. It’s an engaging series, with believable characters, and a beautifully scripted story, though Danny’s ending is a little too neat. 

Above all, Barracuda is very real, thanks to the brilliant acting, writing, and directing.  

Barracuda makes you feel.

4 out of 5.

Until next time.