Film Review: Swimming Pool (2003)

Long time ago phrase “art film” served as euphemism for films that were illegal or deemed pornographic on the account of featuring women not wearing clothes. Segments of the audience who remember those times might be reminded of it if they watch Swimming Pool, 2003 French psychological thriller directed by François Ozon, which is both art film in conventional sense and art film as an convenient excuse to watch divas of European cinema naked.

Protagonist, played by Charlotte Rampling, is Sarah Morton, middle-aged British writer who gained degree of fame and success as an author of dark mystery novels. She is recently experiencing serious writers bloc, so her London editor John Bosload (played by Charles Dance) thinks that the change of scenery would do her a world of good and offers her stay in his villa on the South of France. Sarah agrees and comes there, staying mostly within the house and rarely venturing outside, but on the rare occasion she notices and feels slightly attracted to Franck (played by Jean-Marie Lamour), a waiter in the local cafe. After some times Julie (played by Ludivine Sagnier), young woman claiming to be Bosload’s daughter, moves into house. She is everything Sarah is not – young, extrovert, flirtatious and, most importantly, willing to openly flaunt her sexuality, either by swimming nude in the pool and bringing many of her lovers to the villa. Sarah at first can’t stand Julie, but she gradually becomes intrigued and even aroused by younger woman’s antics. Their relationship will get tested when both women get involved in apparent murder.

Swimming Pool premiered at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival and was heavily advertised with posters featuring Ludivine Sagnier sunbathing in bikini. This, as well her willingness to disrobe completely for the film, are the things most viewers remember about the film and explain why Sagnier became one of the first sex symbols of French cinema in 21st Century. Charlotte Rampling had been appearing in the same kind of scenes in many of her films, especially in 1970s when her beauty made her one of sex symbols of the era. In Swimming Pool she followed her young colleague’s examples and appeared nude, which was, considering her being 58 years of age at the time, unusual and brave thing to do. Rampling nevertheless looked stunning and, like Sagnier, managed to avoid making those exploitative. That could be attributed to those two actresses showing great deal of acting talent and the ease with which they played their complex and multi-dimensional characters. Ozon helped them with cinematography by Yorick Le Sauck, as well as with more conventional “old school” style of direction. Unfortunately, Ozon around the half of running time appears to lose sense of rhythm. Plot begins to unfold too slowly, and the murder mystery, as well as its resolution, seems both confusing and unsatisfying. The Swimming Pool is well-made film, but ultimately disappointing, at least for those who don’t care too much about beautiful actresses removing their clothes on screen.

RATING: 5/10 (++)

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