Swimming Pool

reviewed Sun, 17 Aug 2003

I was looking forward to Swimming Pool, having greatly enjoyed the last collaboration between director François Ozon and star Charlotte Rampling, the sublime Under the Sand. In Swimming Pool, Rampling is an uptight British crime novelist who vacations at her editor’s summer home in the French countryside to get through her writer’s block. Just a few days into her stay at the idyllic, rustic house, however, the editor’s French daughter (Ludivine Sagnier), brash, promiscuous, and nubile, appears unexpectedly and demolishes the peaceful atmosphere.

Most of the way through, Swimming Pool is satisfyingly atmospheric and evocative, if rather slow, as the two women struggle to share the house. I could have done without the frequent lascivious pans over Sagnier’s body, but I’m sure they’ll please some of you no end. But two-thirds of the way through, the movie takes a silly, unrealistic, dramatic turn, and from then on, it’s unbelievable and obtuse. It may have been an Adaptation-like move, but if it was, it doesn’t work at all.

Back to homepage
Reviews A to F
Reviews G to L
Reviews M to R
Reviews S to Z
Search