The Swimming Pool (1969)

Talking to my dad about planning to watch one French film a day over the next few months,I was happily caught by surprise,when he revealed that he had picked one up for me.Recently catching a glimpse of her in the superb Purple Noon,I decided that it was the perfect time to pay Romy Schneider a visit at her villa.The plot:Deciding to go on holiday,lovers Jean-Paul and Marianne choose to spend their time at a villa.Diving into the swimming pool,the couple pass the time by with sun bathing and swimming.Letting each other's guard down,Jean-Paul is taken aback,when Marianne's invites her old lover Harry and his teenage daughter to the villa.Seeing Harry reveal his wooing charms,Jean-Paul begins to think about taking drastic measures in order to save his relationship.View on the film:Backed by a sizzling score from Michel Legrand,co-writer/(along with Jean-Claude Carrière and Alain Page) director Jacques Deray & cinematographer Jean-Jacques Tarbès swagger round the villa like dapper dressed lounge lizards,where every corner of the villa is presented in an immaculate manner,that colour coordinate everything from the clothes to the wall paper. Plunging Jean-Paul and Marianne's relationship under the water,Deray splashes the outdoor of the villa with vibrant yellows which subtly keeps the disintegration crumbling away behind closed doors.Hanging round the pool with everyone,the screenplay by Deray/Page and Carrière gives the domestic Drama a playfully dark comedic chop,lit up by Jean-Paul trying to get a grip on why Harry and his daughter have been invited.Hitting the movie with a dark twist,the writers block the ending from landing at full force,by presenting all 4 characters in a detached manner which stops any menacing atmosphere being fanned across the title.Stepping out of the swimming pool looking ravishingly beautiful, Romy Schneider (who beat first choice Angie Dickinson) gives a very good performance as Marianne,via Schneider delicately crossing a free- spirit nature with a brittleness over the relationship falling from her hands. Joining his real life ex-girlfriend, Alain Delon gives a great performance as Jean-Paul,thanks to Delon injecting Jean-Paul with a heartfelt fragility,as Jean-Paul sees his hopes and loves fall to the bottom of the pool.

The failing writer Jean-Paul (Alain Delon) and his lover Marianne (Romy Schneider) are together for more than two years and spending vacation in a mansion in Saint-Tropez that belongs to a friend of them. They spend most of the time in the swimming pool that is the main attraction of the real estate. Jean-Paul is an insecure man and tried to commit suicide because of the reviews of his last novel but now is recovered. When the successful composer Harry (Maurice Ronet), who had been Marianne's lover for four years, calls her and tells that he is passing by Saint-Tropez with his teenage daughter Pénélope (Jane Birkin), she invites them to come to the mansion to stay with Jean-Paul and her. Soon Harry woos Marianne trying to rekindle their former relationship and there is a tension in the house. Jean-Paul does not react and seduces Pénélope instead that discloses the true feelings of Harry towards him. One night, Harry comes late night drunken and argues with Jean-Paul, telling that he is a loser. However he falls in the swimming pool and Jean-Paul does not let him leave the water. Harry is drowned by Jean-Paul that forges a situation indicating that Harry has accidentally died. However the smart Inspector Lévêque (Paul Crauchet) does not buy the evidences of accident. What will happen to Jean-Paul? "La Piscine" is a movie with a simple, sensual and tense story with a sexy beginning. Romy Schneider is among the most beautiful women in the world and her eyes, her face and her body mesmerize any male viewer. The characters are not well developed and keep a mystery of their true intentions, leaving to the viewer's interpretation. The cinematography is bright like the weather in Saint-Tropez, and the beauty and the eyes of Romy Schneider, Jane Birkin and Alain Delon are highlighted by the camera. The most impressive is that this movie has not aged after almost fifty years. My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): "A Piscina" ("The Swimming Pool")Note: On 28 January 2017, I saw this film again.

Well, it's not an erotic movie but the thematic is highly sensual however : adults vacationing during a hot summer in a isolated villa with a pool. Sure, they dress light and short and their desire goes up as well as tension. In a way, it was expected as it's hard to stay alone and promiscuity was unavoidable. The remarkable facts here are first the historic value of the movie : as it has nearly 50 years, you can appreciate how France looked in the swinging sixties, especially in the infamous spot of French Riviera ! If the vigor of a country can be traced in its fashion, i can understand then the may 68 revolt as everyone is dressed with colorful, vivid clothes. It's a change from nowadays black and gray.Next, the cast is rather interesting : Romy and Delon exudes passion a bit like Belluci and Cassel would do it again in the new millennium as it's a bit a bit special to watch a real couple being intimate on screen. If Romy is always thin skinned with her feelings, Delon is really this unpleasant, narcissist guy media depicted (looking a bit like coach Mourinho) but he did a great job when he becomes crazy, very feline, very leopard as the title of one of his masterpiece. Birkin was a charming teen and his father was really good even if for me he is a total stranger.At last, the story is a bit wicked as if you consider Romy as absolute purity and that criminal laws are superior to heart laws, well, you could be surprised.

A writer and his girlfriend spend their virtually happy holiday in a villa on the French Riviera, but with the arrival of their old friend and his young daughter various psychological games begin.Effective, if derivative psycho-drama of surface calm and overheated passions beneath, with echoes of "Plein Soleil", "Knife in the Water", etc. Good performances and generally skillful handling.