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Swimming Pool (2003)
Both seductive and maddening, Swimming Pool is a film that is aggressively vague in telling a story that may or may not be what we think it is. How's that for not coming to the point? That's the sort of movie we're talking about here. It could be bluntly described as a mind fuck but such bluntness is entirely wrong when talking about this particular film.
Things kick off when British mystery novelist Sarah Morton (Charlotte Rampling) goes to see her publisher John Bosload (Charles Dance). She is bored and frustrated with her long running series of detective novels. John encourages her to take a vacation at his house in France where she can relax and try something new. She takes him up on the offer and upon arrival begins immediately to relax and enjoy the surroundings. She's soon typing away at a new book when John's teenage daughter Julie (Ludivine Sagnier) shows up. The two are polar opposites and immediately get on each other's nerves. Sarah is quiet and restrained, the very picture of a cliched proper British woman. Julie on the other hand is loud, brazen and carefree, the very cliche of a loose French woman. Sarah is instantly put on edge by the invasion of privacy and struggles to deal with Julie who wanders about naked, brings a different man home each night and drinks constantly.
As time goes on though, the two start to find some middle ground that they can connect through. As they begin to relate more congenially, their personalities and behaviors start to swap places. Sarah starts to loosen up, drink more, smoke pot and dance. Julie begins to become more serious and even puts on some clothes. The changes are fairly subtle but we can see clearly that they are affecting each other.
It's difficult to summarize the plot any further because after a certain point we start to wonder if the movie hasn't wandered over some line between imagination and reality. The further things progress the clearer it becomes that this is actually the case but simultaneously becomes more confusing as to where the shift occurred. Pretty much everything is thrown into question, something that will fascinate some viewers and madden others.
Writer/director Francois Ozon has done a fantastic job of luring the viewer in with a slow moving introduction. He has a knack for developing his characters through fairly mundane shots, letting us decide who these people are almost purely through action instead of word. That makes the the film's descent into madness that much more disturbing as we have a significant connection to these characters and the very actions that helped define them are now causing massive confusion. This is not the sort of movie that has a carefully choreographed ending to bring the whole thing into sharp focus like The Sixth Sense. Instead the ending is almost the most confusing element, forcing viewers to go back afterwards and try to reconstruct the events to put them into order. There is an explanation for everything that seems to make sense but the clues to it are vague and scattered almost randomly about so finding it may prove frustrating.
The movie is almost infectious in the way it infects the mind with countless questions left unanswered. A second viewing would probably go a long way towards settling these issues but almost certainly won't provide complete satisfaction in answering questions. The movie is carefully constructed but feels about as solid as a dream, full of visuals and fragments that slip away the harder you try to think about them.
Charlotte Rampling and Ludivine Sagnier deserve great credit in making this all work. Rampling's performance is wonderfully nuanced and most definitely brave. To have the nerve for a full frontal nude scene at the age of 58 after we've watched Sagnier's luscious young body naked for extended periods prior took serious guts. Amazingly it is probably the film's sexiest moment. Sagnier does a great job of portraying that reckless invincibility that comes with youth. She wields her sex appeal like a hammer, bludgeoning men and women alike. In her hands Julie is a brat who lives entirely for her physical desires with little care or concern for others. The question is whether she is the product of failed parenting or something more literal.
It's hard to call this a complete film, it's stubborn denial of some needed facts is a bit irritating, but it is definitely a fascinating one. It provides a stage for some superb acting, some crafty directing and provides the simple pleasure of gorgeous nude bodies. It's hard not to recommend that.
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