Swimming Pool [2003] [DVD]

Then Julie (Ludivine Sagnier), the daughter of her publisher shows up. She is an unexpected guest, not only because Sarah assumed she would be alone, but because she did not know he had a daughter. If anything, Sarah has been waiting for him to show up so that she can get in a little relaxation with her rest. Instead Julie shows up and violates not only Sarah's privacy but here sense of propriety. Julie tends walk around topless by the pool and apparently shows no sense of discrimination in bringing home men to sleep with. We know Sarah disapproves of such practices, but this does not stop her from watching Julie, whether she is swimming in the villa's pool or making love to some strange man. It then becomes clear that not only is Julie becoming a part of Sarah's novel, but that something is going to happen; Philippe Rombi's score for this 2003 film foreshadows this even if the plot does not arouse our suspicions.

"Swimming Pool" is usually described as being a thriller, but that strikes me as being off the mark. It is more of a mystery, but in a subtle way, which explains why it is difficult to talk about director François Ozon's film without giving away too much. This is the sort of film where you are going to have to go back and at least watch the end of the film again, if not the entire thing from start to finish, to make sure you understand what happened. You might actually have to do it more than one before you figure things out and are satisfied with your understanding of the film. What helped me out in untangling this film was that for most of it I kept asking what Sarah was writing. There was clearly a connection between what was happening and what Sarah was writing, but I kept waiting for Ozon to show us what that was, which, in the end, only goes to show how much I was fooled by this film. In this regard the film ends up being surprising rather than shocking, in keeping with the subtlety and sensuality of the film.

Be aware that there are two different version of "Swimming Pool" available on DVD: R-rated and Unrated. The difference between the two is that there is full frontal nudity in the unrated version and there are two key things to know about this. First, this is by no means gratuitous nudity. I would go so far as to say the nudity was actually character driven in this film. Second, I heard about all the compliments Diane Keaton was paid for being so daring in "Something's Gotta Give," and I have to assume that many of those people simply did not see "Swimming Pool" even though in terms of length and context the two scenes could hardly be more different.

The film is well shot and directed. The French countryside and direction style is a huge plus. The main problem is the story line. It is "artistic" and has lots of thought-provoking twists - I love these type of films. Unfortunately, it tries to be far too clever and the various strands of story (and the related different styles) become too confused. In the end, the sub-plots do not pay off and the overall build-up leads to a disappointing ending. Never mind - I still recommend it!