Rating: 
Summary: Murky & Unsatisfying
Review: My initial review of this film was scathing to say the least. I still don't like it and my feelings can be pretty much summed up above in my review title. I found out from another Amazon reader that the writer-director Francis Ozon is actually an out-of-the-closet gay male. I was surprised because I felt his film screamed "heterosexual male wet dream". I honestly didn't find much in this film that was homo-erotic. Did I miss something? I suppose there may have been some sexual tension between Rampling & the actress who played the daughter. And of course the filmmakers even go so far as to equate themselves with "straight porn" by making the male at the center of the film an unattractive mess. I may have to give this film another chance but it won't be any time soon. And I frankly don't know why Ms. Rampling receives so much critical acclaim. I've always found her acting wanting. But that's just my opinion.
Rating: 
Summary: France is getting a bill for the time I lost watching this!
Review: If this were an American or British film made by an American or British director it would have been panned. Instead it is getting kudos? If I were French I would be insulted. The bar is apparently much lower for the many French directors. Much better stuff has come from there. The Red, White and Blue trilogy were great! It's the same feeling I had after watching Brotherhood of the Wolf. Although BOTW was not bad, it was not worth all of the praise heaped upon it. Swimming Pool was terrible! Sure there were a few well composed shots, but the movie itself was boring and pointless and at times very pretentious. Unless you are the type who goes for "snob appeal" stay away from this movie.
Rating: 
Summary: A Puzzle for You to Solve.
Review: Sarah Morton (Charlotte Rampling) is a middle-aged British mystery novelist. Burned out on writing and tired of the climate in London, she accepts an invitation from her publisher, John (Charles Dance), to spend some time relaxing at his villa in Southern France. The change of scenery gets her creative juices flowing, but shortly after Sarah has settled in, John's daughter Julie (Ludivine Sagnier) turns up with plans to stay. At first Sarah is annoyed by Julie's daring and promiscuous lifestyle. But gradually Sarah takes an interest in the young woman and allows herself to be sucked into Sarah's emotional intrigues.There is a lot that I would love to say about this film, but the nature of "Swimming Pool" is such that I can say very little that will not spoil the film for those who have not yet seen it. "Swimming Pool" is an unusual and ingenious variety of mystery. I will say this much: Pay close attention. Things are not as the seem. François Ozon's screenplay may be the best of 2003. It's certainly the most sinuous. I'm sure that some will say -not without some justification- that it's too clever for its own good. My one reservation about "Swimming Pool" is that it may be too subtle. Too much of the audience is left thinking that the events of the film are to be taken at face value. And the film doesn't begin to make sense if taken at face value. The audience is given enough information to figure out what has transpired. -But just enough. We do have to figure it out for ourselves. Normally, a film of this kind would explain itself a few scenes before the end. But François Ozon has chosen not to spell anything out for his audience. I enjoyed the puzzle. It's gratifying once it clicks and everything makes sense. But I fear "Swimming Pool" is too esoteric for wide audience appeal. I give it an enthusiastic recommendation, though. "Swimming Pool" is one of the most original, clever, and intriguing movies that I've seen. The DVD: Previews are unfortunately unavoidable. Bonus features include one theatrical trailer and deleted scenes. Most of the deleted scenes are entirely inconsequential, but one actually confuses matters, so I don't recommend them. Dubbing is available in French. Subtitles are available in French, Spanish, and English. I sure wish there were an interview with writer/director François Ozon, but no such luck. There are more bonus features, including a commentary by Ozon (presumably in French), on the French Region 2 DVD 2-disc set for anyone who is interested.
Rating: 
Summary: A sexy, light thriller
Review: I say light, as the tension of the murder mystery toward the end, is in this reviewers opinion, handled almost lightheartedly, or without the normal tension and mist surrounding characters normally associated in your typical Hollywood crime thriller. This merely lies out the underpinnings of what will consequently be revealed. Charlotte Rampling gives a blazing peformance and you feel cheated when she is not on screen. However, Ludivine Sagnier strolling about in striking bikinis (and occasionally nude) does take your mind off Rampling for a few moments. Ludivine's girlish, choppy, French accent discourages from what could have been a prime performance. I don't think any Hollywood actress would have been suited in this role, however an exotic French actress who was more articulate in English may have. The cinematography and slow moving plot pace reminds one of an Eric Rohmer film, however the comparisons stop there. This film is crystal clear in both audio and video quality, however in a Rohmer film, personal relationships and virtues are more deeply explored. A fun journey around a swimming pool in France, I recommend this one due to it's lush visuals and a stunning perfomance from Charlotte Rampling. As for the reviewers who barked about having to sit through 7 minutes of previews before the DVD takes you to the Main Menu: you are just not quick enough. Hit the 'Menu' button on the DVD remote when the "WARNING" notice first comes up on screen as soon as you put the disc in. This will take you right to the Main Menu. If you miss doing this on the warning screen, then the menu button is deactivated and you must fast forward through the previews.
Rating:
Summary: Sexy, Stylish, Suspense.
Review: Alrighty I know you've heard about the nudity but i'm not a perv, this is a sensational film, or for some a SINsational psychological thriller .
Filmmaker Francois Ozon, is a modern French cinema's master of eroticism, outdoes himself with this Sexy thriller, a Hitchcock style in guilt, panic, and deceit, and additionally laced with overt sexuality. It provides a great vechile for the charming Charlotte Rampling, here playing a celebrated English mystery writer offered the loan of a French villa by her publisher (Charles Dance). The tired, repressed author is annoyed when her privacy is shattered by the unexpected arrival of her host's daughter Julie(Ludivine Sagnier), a voluptuous little sexpot who brings men to the villa for sexual pleasure and even seduces one of the older woman's potential admirers, Ozon takes a sharp left turn by having Rampling's character commit an uncharacteristic act that she spends the rest of the movie attempting to conceal. The storytelling is excellent, Ultimately it's Rampling's audacious performance that distinguishes Swimming Pool, although she's ably supported Sagnier, a rising starlet and favorite of the director. If you're in the mood for a sophisticated, engrossing tale of suspense, look no further
Swimming Pool is incredible but there is one thing thou...with the attractive Sagnier why didn't Ozon get better looking men but this doesn't affect the movie at all. But other than that this movie is excellent 5 stars.
Rating:
Summary: Conversation Provoking Speculation--Beware SPOILER!
Review: Like a typical art house film, this offering from director, François Ozon meanders a bit, giving us a slice of the life of Sarah Morton, a successful crime fiction author as she foregoes her busy London writer's block for the needed tranquility of the South of France. We watch Sarah perform little things with little dialogue and get the impression that she lives a routine where most of her desires are repressed by her own rigidity. We get a glimpse of her life in London with her father and a sense that Sarah's only outlet may be some secret drinking. We feel her yearning for something else, perhaps she feels she is destined for better things as a writer besides financial success. She settles into her new environment quickly, and just as immediately begins a new manuscript. Happily preoccupied, her thoughts of writing something a little different are back-burnered until the advent of her publisher's daughter--Julie.
Julie embodies everything that Sarah is not. Her young vivacious, and blatantly sexy persona instantly provoke Sarah to bristling hostility---after all, her peaceful interlude has been disturbed; the routine is broken and Sarah finds that she can no longer write her usual police procedural. Instead, she begins to explore Julie, at first visually as Julie quite candidly and literally bounces about the villa in half-naked splendor and then with her other senses, as Julie loudly proclaims her enjoyment of the sexual pleasures attained when she brings home a different man every night and replaces Sarah's bland yogurt and diet Coke with palate pleasing cheeses, foie gras and the region's best wine. The more Sarah learns about Julie, the more mystery she uncovers and busily records in a new manuscript with the writer's typical deft enjoyment---what is the situation between Julie's father and mother? What is the scar on Julie's abdomen? What's this about a car accident involving Julie and her mother? Why does she come home with a black eye? And why does she keep replacing the crucifix above Sarah's bed?
At the point in the film when Julie secretly reads the working manuscript, the two characters of Julie and Sarah seemed to me to merge into one. They both romance a waiter from the nearby village and when Julie confesses to killing him, Sarah does not blink an eye, but rather aids her in getting rid of the body and diverting the attentions of any suspicious outsiders. At this point the film rapidly draws to its conclusion. The action becames improbable and strains the viewer's ability to accept it all as credibile. We feel as if we we have been drawn into a rather implausible plot and are expected to believe it. When Sarah returns to London and presents her publisher with the finished book---supposedly about his highly promiscuous murdering daughter, he doesn't even bat an eye. When Sarah, encounters Julia, the publisher's daughter at the film's end, we discover that Julie and Julia were not at all the same person. When the credits role, our reaction is HUH? accompanied by a lot of head-scratching.
But, what if Julie was just a character that Sarah dreamed up in her head, what if some of Julie's personality were intermingled with Sarah's own life--her own past and present relationship with her father and her mother. What if a lifetime of repression was allowed a voice crying out from the body of a ripe teenager? Or perhaps all the unanswered questions about Julie's past and her troubled present were just plot devices, red herrings and dead-ends that all writers encounter as they work out a story. Either way, what if that magically creative once-in-the-lifetime story suddenly took on a life of its own and allowed itself to be written down?
This is all speculation, but I believe that to a degree this is what the Swimming Pool alludes to: the creative process likened to taking a plunge in a deeper, less safe end of the pools we have all created for ourselves.
Well worth watching with someone you can discuss it with later!
Rating:
Summary: Toooo many plot holes
Review: I'm a bit surprised this is receiving so much praise. Its very well made - and the production values are high - and the interaction of Charlotte Rampling and Ludivine Sagnier creates moments of tention and interest...But the script was poorly written. Charlotte Rampling is an author of detective fiction novels who decides to spend some time alone at her publisher's house in France - only to have the daughter show up (Julie, played by Ludivine Sagnier) and create havoc by bringing home older men to have sex with, and go skinny dipping in the pool, which overlooks Charlotte Rampling's room. The pair are not very fond of one another - and it doesn't help that both of them have a nasty attitude at the beginning...So whom do we side with ??? Since it is rightfully the daughters living quarters, does the author have the clout to boss her around ?? Is it right for the daughter to be sleezy around a guest ?? We see both points to each character - so we can't side with either of them. Its like waiting around for a cat fight to happen. Without giving away any more plot - the 2 decide to try and get along - but we are led to believe the author is only doing this to get idea's from the daughters wild and troubled life for her next novel. This follows a most ridiculous last half of the film, and common sense is thrown out the window. Movies don't anger me much - but this one did. The first half is so believable and intense, but then just gets ridiculous and confusing. "Confusing" is the key word here...By the end of the film, we are supposed to make up our own minds about what had just happened, which I really enjoy doing in a film - but the script doesn't give us enough information to figure it out. Any 1 of 4 points could have happened - and trying to limit them down to 1 is just not feasable. This is a true sign of a poorly written script...and if more information WAS in there - its a case of poor editing. Great looking film - with an excellent cast - and superb direction - but a below average script really leaves the viewer all wet in the end.
Rating: 
Summary: Doesnt live up to the hype.
Review: The acting is great. When the movie ends you'll be scratching your head. Once I realized the ending I wasnt really impressed. There is also a lot of nudity, so you might be offended.
Rating:
Summary: I Need To See it Again
Review: A very subtle, well-acted and beautifully shot film we have here. I enjoyed it immensly and I think I have it figured out for the most part, but I'd like to discuss it with others who have seen it.
ALERT! IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN IT YET, READ NO FURTHER.
What is it with the color red in this film? I figure it is symbolic. Did you notice how the covers and some walls in the home, the bathing suit and the float were a bright red in some scenes? It seemed to stick out as if it meant something. Also, how much of Julie was her imagination? Was everything after the train ride her imagination?
I'd love to see more discussion on the meanings of this film, feel free to email me.
Rating:
Summary: Shimmering adult psycological thriller
Review: "Swimming Pool" is a complex psychological thriller for adults. It is French director Francois Ozon's first English-language movie, but it remains essential a French film. It moves at a slower pace and is more ambiguous than most American movies. The ending will delight those who like a puzzle and infuriate those who don't because it forces you to think through all that you have just seen. [Hints: The clues are there. There is only one possible answer.] Sarah Morton [Charlotte Rampling] is a successful crime novelist who is facing both a writer's block and a midlife crisis. Her publisher [Charles Dance] suggests that she relax by spending a few weeks in his home in the French countryside. She accepts his offer, and once in France, she is delighted by the charming house, its beautiful swimming pool and gardens, and the neighboring village. Almost immediately, she begins to write again. Her routine and her happiness are interrupted by the arrival of the publisher's teenage daughter, Julie [Ludivine Sagnier], who loves to party and to bring home a different man every night. At first, the two women get along like cats and dogs. Later, Julie inspires Sarah to begin a new novel unlike any she as ever written before, and Julie finds that Sarah is not nearly as repressed as she appears to be. They start to bond, but one night something improbable and ugly occurs. It is an event that changes everything. Or does it? Charlotte Rampling is one of the most admired actresses of her generation. She is not that well known for several reasons, the most important, perhaps, being that she has always preferred to be an actress rather than a star. Unlike other performers, her strength lies not in what she says [dialog] but in what she does [body language]. For her performance alone, "Swimming Pool" is well worth watching.
|
