Film review: Learn to Swim is a jazz-infused love story

feels like it takes the beats of a romantic story and hits the shuffle button. But by the end of this debut feature from Toronto director and co-writer Thyrone Tommy, you realize the tale was just as organized and deliberate as anything cast in vinyl or committed to magnetic tape.

Thomas Antony Olajide and Emma Ferreira star in this jazz-infused tale as Dezi and Selma. He’s a saxophone player and a producer with a bit of a controlling streak, both in the business and outside of it. Friends and colleagues complain, with some justification, that he only ever thinks of himself. She’s a chanteuse who freely admits she wants to be more than just the pretty girl singing. And lest we doubt either’s performing bona fides, the film opens with six solid minutes of glorious music.

Of course, Dezi and Selma fall hard for one another. And of course the course of their love never does run smooth. But part of the film’s genius is the way it slices the timeline into past and present, so that we watch the rise and fall of the romance play out together in syncopated harmony.

There are some other fine filmic choices, such as a squarish frame that Tommy has said is meant to recall the dimensions of old album covers. And the music is mostly new compositions from such Toronto musicians as Chester Hansen, Leland Witty, TiKA and Casey MQ, the last two nominated for a Canadian Screen Award for their songIn all honestly you could probably sit back, close your eyes and just listen to the music, but then you’d be missing out on the beautifully interwoven story of romance.

Learn to Swim opens March 25 in Vancouver and Toronto, with other cities to follow. Thyrone Tommy will introduce the film and participate in Q&As at the Toronto Lightbox screenings on March 25 and 26 at 7 p.m.

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