The Swimming Pool (1969)

Touches You

Fresh and Exciting

A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

Blistering performances.

A sumptuous idyll in the South of France. Still air. Full Mediterranean sun. One pool. Two lovers. Two guests - one, an old acquaintance to one and a former lover to another, the other his daughter, a mystery to all. The rest is a well controlled drama of hedonism, sensuality, eroticism, sexual longing, anxiety and unfulfillment. Compacted these all lead to a weakness for one and their dastardly deed. A film so slow moving, and as enervating as the heat of the sun over the villa, could easily be hard viewing. But, the camera loves these beautiful chic people and the intrigue they create.

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.

After ten years .Their last and only movie together(Schneider had only a cameo in "plein soleil")was "Christine".That movie helped Delon become a star when his partner was famous (the "Sissi saga").But Schneider's career ran into difficulties when she tried to get rid of her image of a very nice Austrian empress.And in the late sixties ,when her success was waning,Delon returned the favor,in a gentlemanly manner.He was right:Schneider soon gained critical acclaim again and became one of the biggest actresses of the seventies in France till her tragic death.We still miss her now.And Maurice Ronet too."La piscine" is a psychological detective story.There are only four characters well portrayed by the four leads.Almost all the action takes place around a pool (hence the title) in the middle of a desirable villa(I wish I could spend my vacation here).Tempers rise as it appears that Jean-Paul (Delon) is a wash-out professionally and that his guest (Ronet)is a show-off ,and Jean-Paul's lover's (Schneider) 'ex -partner.It's a cat and mouse play,not always original ,but where the actors can display their skills.The murder can remind people of "plein soleil" ,mainly because it's the same actors.

Maurice Ronet is the usual victim of the perversive Alain Delon. This happened in "A plein Soleil" film (first version of Mr. Ripley) and it happens again in this film. Teenagers like to flirt with different partners, and this is seen in this film, but the fact is that Delon, Ronet and Rommy Schneider are young but not teenagers. A latino macho will never accept the behavior of Rommy Schneider, and will react in the same way as Delon did. Probably the director wanted to mix different feelings to prepare the scene for murdering Ronet once again. Nice to see the beautifulness of Rommy Schneider, all the way wonderful, desirable, simply too sexy. The daughter of Ronet in the film is not so attractive to compete with Schneider, so this was one minus against the director of the film.