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SWIMMING POOL

Having seen a number of mainstream, commercial films these past few weeks replete with vapid characterizations, tidy plots, and few questions left unanswered, I was in dire need of a palate cleansing. Enter François Ozon’s (8 Women) Swimming Pool. From a script by Ozon and Emmanuèle Bernheim (Friday Night), the film (order the film essay from https://mcessay.com/ service) is rife with intrigue, sexuality, and questions about the delineation between reality and fiction. Exactly what the swimming pool represents in this film is subject to a myriad of interpretations, but the line “En surface, tout est calme” on the theatrical release poster posits an answer and concurrently, at least one question. All may be calm on the surface, but what lies beneath? Charlotte Rampling (Under The Sand) plays Sarah, a successful, but quite disenchanted mystery writer. Financial and literary success has seemingly done little in the way of providing Sarah with any real happiness. While the characters Sarah constructs in her novels may revel in drama, intrigue, and thrills, her own life bears no resemblance to the lives of the characters she crafts. Rigid and bored, Sarah is clearly in need of a change. Sarah’s literary agent and lover, John, played by Charles Dance (Gosford Park), suggests to Sarah that she retreat to his summer home in France to facilitate the writing of her next novel. Upon arrival, Sarah is inspired by the tranquility, isolation, and beauty of her surroundings. Her initial forays into writing her new novel are quickly interrupted by the arrival of the young, nubile, Lolita-esque, Julie (Ludivine Sagnier, 8 Women ). Julie and Sarah are polar opposites. Sarah embodies a cold, repressed, rigidity. In contrast, Julie is sexual, young, and open. Ozon does an excellent job of illustrating the complex chemistry between Sarah and Julie. The tension between Sarah and Julie is palpable, tangible, and believable. While Sarah may resent Julie for disrupting her peaceful, writing sanctuary and thrusting her hyper sexuality in her face, it becomes evident that Sarah is equally intrigued by Julie and drawn to her in ways that she won’t fully admit to herself. Rampling does a fantastic job of portraying a staid, uptight author. However, as the film progresses, the presence of the youthful, sexual Julia begins to affect Sarah more and more. Sarah’s repressed, staid exterior begins to falter revealing glimmers of a vibrant, luminous, and sexual woman underneath. Sagnier plays an equally compelling yin to Rampling’s yang. Julie is frustrated by Sarah’s uptight, conservative nature and seems to relish making Sarah uncomfortable with her brazen, vociferous acts of promiscuity and flaunting of conventionality. As the film progresses, we see a symbiosis of sorts occur between the two as each begins to reluctantly understand and appreciate aspects of the other. The other major player in this film is the swimming pool itself. Ozon spends a great deal of time lovingly training his camera on the swimming pool. Initially, covered with a drab, brown tarpaulin, the swimming pool is eventually uncovered revealing water filled with leaves and debris. All too willing to plumb the depths, Julie zealously dives in, more than content to swim in the ”cesspool of dirt and leaves” as Sarah describes it. Julie is quick to notice Sarah’s inner conflict, ”Sarah wants to swim, but it’s too dirty for her.” Sarah may find the dirty water loathsome, but as the debris and leaves are cleared away, Sarah’s aversion to the swimming pool diminishes. The swimming pool seems to act as a barometer (among other things) for the evolving relationship between Sarah and Julie. The major conflict that drives Swimming Pool forward is the evolution of the relationship between Sarah and Julie as both begin to learn there is much more beneath the surface. While the dynamic, evolving relationship between these two characters does keep one’s interest, the set up seems lengthy and laborious at times. The one major plot twist towards the end feels hurried and all too quickly resolved. I certainly appreciate the thoughtful creation and elaboration of Julie and Sarah, but their excesses seemed too protracted. That being said, Swimming Pool presents two compelling characters, an intriguing storyline, and a plethora of thorny issues to keep one engaged.

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