NYAD
By Joanna Langfield
This is a movie with a clear goal. It aims to be inspirational, a crowd pleaser. And, for the most part, it succeeds. But it also glides past a few, more subtle or complicated things, moments which might have made this movie the stand up and cheer hit it wants to be.
Full disclosure here. My grandmother, Ida Elionsky, was the first woman to swim around Manhattan Island, a feat she accomplished back in 1916. When I submitted her name for inclusion in the Marathon Swimmers Hall of Fame, I was told much about the international swimming community and their relationship with perhaps the most famous contemporary female swimmer, Diana Nyad. I knew she was unaware of my grandmother’s success and had asked to find out more. Diana and I have talked about getting together and I hope we do. Both, to me, are women of great accomplishment and their stories can provide much insight into not just their physical feats, but how they were accomplished, against odds that were also psychological and societal.
This movie sets out to tell us Diana’s. And, it mostly does. We are told how Nyad, a woman in her ‘60’s, grew frustrated with a world that found acceptance in mediocrity. She wanted to prove them wrong. That greatness can be made at any age, through persistence and hard work. Gathering a team that worked for free, she trained, in and out of the water. She tried her dream swim, from Cuba to Key West, Florida, several times and failed. And yet, as they say, she persisted. So did her people. And eventually, they made it.
Annette Bening’s fierce portrayal of Diana is impressive, but the whole movie leans in on her difficult personality without trying to balance it with the magnetism that kept not just those closest to her, but most of the world, cheering her on. Rhys Ifans, I guess basically representing the entire real life crew of 40, is lovely, but the performance that got me is from a marvelously uncluttered and rock solid Jodie Foster, who makes Diana’s stalwart friend Bonnie a woman we would all be lucky to have in our lives.
The Movie Minute 
October 19, 2023 at 10:07 pm
Wonderful Joanna to hear about your grandmother!
October 19, 2023 at 10:11 pm
Thank you!!
November 11, 2023 at 7:20 pm
I can’t believe I missed this! Couldn’t agree more about Jodie Foster. I kept thinking she was Bonnie.
One thing, though: Diana has knew of your grandmother’s success by 1975. She wrote about it in her 1978 memoir, Other Shores:
November 12, 2023 at 4:15 pm
*has known
November 12, 2023 at 5:44 pm
Yes, Dan. Thank you for reaching out. I got to meet Bonnie at a screening of Nyad and she told me, as did Diana a few years ago, she wanted to know more about my grandmother and her swim. I sincerely hope to be able to talk with both these accomplished athletes. I think they will find my grandmother’s story quite compelling and personally meaningful.
November 12, 2023 at 5:49 pm
It will be interesting to see if they get in touch.
November 12, 2023 at 5:54 pm
Yes, Dan. Thanks.