Swimming Pool (R, 2003)

In SWIMMING POOL the glorious Charlotte Rampling plays Sarah Morton, a middle-aged and somewhat prudish crime novelist living in London. She is bored and unsatisfied, so her publisher suggests she relax at his home in the South of France. The house is wonderful, the weather is perfect (if you don't have South of France envy, you will after watching this), and Sarah begins to work on a new novel. But her idyll is interrupted by the arrival of her publisher's daughter, Julie (Ludivine Sagnier), who is the opposite of Sarah in every way. Soon Sarah's rest is being interrupted by Julie's loud music and frequent sexual encounters.

The story moves slowly, sometimes frustratingly slow, and when the plot thickens, it also becomes very confusing. The lines between reality, fantasy, and Sarah's novel become nearly impossible to untangle, and a final twist at the end leaves the viewer wondering about everything that went before.

 

Rampling and Sagnier are excellent, but the story becomes so ambiguous and unsettled that it's hard to enjoy it after a while. It's fun to have your assumptions toyed with, but without any resolution, it's simply frustrating. This is a beautifully made film, with ravishing shots of the (often naked) Sagnier in the titular pool, and yet another brave and surprising performance by Rampling. But ultimately it feels like a tease, raising expectations and then leaving them dangling.

Studio: Universal Pictures
Director: Francois Ozon
Cast: Charles Dance, Charlotte Rampling, Ludivine Sagnier
Genre: Drama
Run time: 103 minutes
Theatrical release: September 20, 2003
DVD release: August 23, 2004
MPAA Rating: R
MPAA explanation: nudity, sexual scenes, strong language and violence