Swimming Pool Review
by Shannon Patrick Sullivan (shannon AT morgan DOT ucs DOT mun DOT ca)November 11th, 2003
SWIMMING POOL (2003) / ** 1/2
Directed by François Ozon. Screenplay by Ozon and Emmanuèle Bernheim. Starring Charlotte Rampling, Ludivine Sagnier, Charles Dance. Running time: 103 minutes. Rated AA for violent scenes by the MFCB. Reviewed on November 10th, 2003.
By SHANNON PATRICK SULLIVAN
Synopsis: Crime novelist Sarah Morton (Rampling) travels to a French village to stay at a summer home owned by her publisher, John Bosload (Dance). She plans to write her next novel in seclusion and tranquility, but her brief dalliance with peace comes to an abrupt end with the arrival of Julie (Sagnier), a daughter of John's whom Sarah never knew existed. A wild young woman who cavorts with a different man every night, Julie's disruption of Sarah's working holiday escalates when one of her boyfriends goes missing.
Review: I hope I'm not giving too much away by saying that "Swimming Pool" reminds me a lot of the splendid "Adaptation". Both ultimately deal with a blending of truth and fiction as a way of penetrating beneath the surface of their main characters. But whereas "Adaptation" wears this conceit on its sleeve, "Swimming Pool" opts for a much more subtle approach, to the extent that by the end, viewers will undoubtedly be left debating exactly what was real. But while this makes "Swimming Pool" feel a little less gimmicky than "Adaptation", the overall result is a film which never really seems to get going until the very end. Granted, it's a nice character study of Sarah, contrasting her reserved manner with the outrageous and uninhibited Julie. Both Rampling and Sagnier are very good in their respective roles, showing enough depth of character to avoid stereotyping as the conservative Englishwoman and the unbridled European. But "Swimming Pool" appears to have such minimalist aims that it's difficult to really become engrossed in it; the odd moments which point to the film possessing an unsuspected higher concept come across as more bewildering and ill-fitting than anything else. Only in retrospect does "Swimming Pool" really catch the viewer's attention and by then, unfortunately, it's a little too late.
Copyright © 2003 Shannon Patrick Sullivan.
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