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The Swimmer [DVD] [1968]
 
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The Swimmer [DVD] [1968]

DVD ~ Burt Lancaster
4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
RRP: £12.99
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Frequently Bought Together

The Swimmer [DVD] [1968] + Elmer Gantry [DVD] [1960] + The Sweet Smell Of Success [DVD] [1957]
Total RRP: £41.97
Price For All Three: £16.93

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What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

The Swimmer [DVD] [1968]
97% buy the item featured on this page:
The Swimmer [DVD] [1968] 4.8 out of 5 stars (15)
£4.88
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Waterlog: A Swimmer's Journey Through Britain
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Product details

  • Actors: Burt Lancaster, Janet Landgard, Janice Rule, Tony Bickley, Marge Champion
  • Directors: Frank Perry, Sydney Pollack
  • Writers: Eleanor Perry, John Cheever
  • Producers: Frank Perry, Roger Lewis
  • Format: PAL, Widescreen
  • Language English
  • Subtitles: Danish, Finnish, Icelandic, Portuguese, Hungarian, Swedish, Polish, Italian, French, German, Turkish, Arabic, Czech, Greek, Dutch, Norwegian, English, Hebrew, Spanish, Hindi
  • Region: Region 2 (This DVD may not be viewable outside Europe. Read more about DVD formats.)
  • Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
  • Number of discs: 1
  • Classification: PG
  • Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
  • DVD Release Date: 26 May 2003
  • Run Time: 91 minutes
  • Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
  • ASIN: B00008YNHD
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 8,223 in DVD (See Bestsellers in DVD)

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Reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review
Burt Lancaster gives one of his most daringly complex performances in The Swimmer, a fascinating adaptation of John Cheever's celebrated short story. At first it seems that middle-aged businessman Ned Merrill (Lancaster) is merely enjoying a spontaneous adventure, swimming from pool to pool among the well-tended estates of his affluent Connecticut neighbourhood. But as Ned encounters a variety of neighbours, we see from their reactions that he's on an entirely different kind of journey, balanced on the edge of some mysterious psychosis that we can't fully understand until the film's final, devastating image.

A compelling portrait of loss, refracted memories, and deep-rooted emotional denial, The Swimmer sprung from the same late-60s soil that yielded similarly ground-breaking literary films such as The Graduate and Goodbye, Columbus. It's an egotistical showcase for the physical prowess of its 55-year-old star, but Lancaster turns it into something deeper, more disturbing, and completely unforgettable. --Jeff Shannon

DVD Description
The Swimmer takes place in an affluent Connecticut suburb, and for Ned Merrill (Burt Lancaster) it is where he confronts all of his dreams…and deceptions. According to Judith Crist, "Burt Lancaster gives the best performance of his career," as Ned, the troubled suburbanite, who one summer morning decides to "swim" home via the pools of his wealthy friends. Along the way he encounters several women from his past: a tempestuous teenage girl (Janet Landgard), teetering at the edge of adolescence and womanhood; his embittered ex-mistress (Janice Rule); and the sensual wife of an old friend (Kim Hunter). Ned's journey is one of embarrassments, humiliation and steamy passion. He passes from one scenario to another until he arrives home to an empty house…and to a startling self-revelation.

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Customer Reviews

15 Reviews
5 star:
 (12)
4 star:
 (3)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.8 out of 5 stars (15 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Heartbreaking, 7 Jan 2006
By Steerforth (Sussex) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)      
On a sunny autumn afternoon in a wealthy New England suburb, Burt Lancaster appears at a friend's garden wearing nothing but a pair of swimming trunks. Jumping into their pool, he announces that he has decided to swim home in a journey that will include his friends' and neighbours' swimming pools.

Burt Lancaster was in his mid-fifties when this film was made, but has the body of a man half his age and at first the character he plays seems the model of success. However, as the film progresses it becomes clear that all is not what it seems and the film's climax is both shocking and heartbreaking.

This is one of the finest and most underrated American films of the 1960's. Burt Lancaster gives a mesmerising performance and it is nice to see Kim Hunter as well. From the beautiful opening, with its haunting score by Marvin Hamlisch, to the powerful climax, this is a wonderful film that deserves greater recognition.

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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A classic movie, 6 Feb 2003
This review is from: The Swimmer [VHS] [1968] (VHS Tape)
I agree with the other reviewers but would go further and say that this is one of the best films of all time. The visual imagery was enough to inspire a recent Levis jeans ad, and the colour and photography are simply breathtaking. Burt Lancaster's acting is tense and taught, and hints at hidden depths and dark secrets that slowly unravel as you watch the film. Very much about the shallowness of suburban life and disappointments of the American Dream, the film argues that it really does matter how you treat people along the way and that the means of getting somewhere are rather more important than the end itself. A thought-provoking and classical piece of film-making that would never be funded it it were proposed today. It is sad yet humane and full of feeling.
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13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars They don't make them like this any more, 8 April 2005
One of the best and possibly saddest films I have ever seen. Burt is fantastic as the slightly deranged main character who is barely trying to hold onto reality. The one thing I would love to know is where he had been before he appeared at the start. You'll know what I mean when you watch the film, and you should watch the film!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Haunting
This film deserves all the acolades that can be heaped upon it. Like all truly great pieces of art, it makes you think long after the end titles have rolled. Read more
Published 3 months ago by N. Jones

4.0 out of 5 stars Simple but quality journey of life
I saw this movie when I was a child and it has stayed with me ever since. So I decided to buy it and watch it again. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Mr. I. D. Clarkson

5.0 out of 5 stars Only Lancaster could be the swimmer
Almost any film Burt Lancaster is in usually gets my attention & The Swimmer is no exception, in fact I think it was one of his more complicated roles, one which was tailor made... Read more
Published 12 months ago by John Hetherington

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful and profoundly moving
This is a journey (via the swimming pools of an affluent New England suburb) to the heart of the darkness of the American Dream. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Flibertigibbit

4.0 out of 5 stars How anyone can lose the plot ...
This is a psychological 'day in the life' drama of a man not on the edge of a nervous breakdown - but, instead, in the denial stage after a nervous breakdown. Read more
Published 18 months ago by LXIX

5.0 out of 5 stars "If you make-believe hard enough that something is true, then it is true - for you"
This 1968 film directed by Frank Perry and starring Burt Lancaster (who was 55 when the film was released and was in astonishingly good shape for his age) is based on a brilliant... Read more
Published 22 months ago by cathy earnshaw

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb and disturbing
Burt Lancaster gives one of his greatest ever performances in 'The Swimmer'. The plot is simple, Ned (Lancaster) decides to swim his way home via the swimming pools of his wealthy... Read more
Published 23 months ago by S J Buck

5.0 out of 5 stars A POETIC MASTERPIECE
Okay, I'll have to try hard to keep this one short, because this is easily one of my five favourite films. Read more
Published 24 months ago by Lou Knee

5.0 out of 5 stars John Cheever, Anyone?
This is based on a masterpiece of a short story by John Cheever, one of the best pieces of American short fiction ever written. Read more
Published on 21 Jun 2007 by C. Kaye

4.0 out of 5 stars The Swimmer
An unsettling story, set in American suburbia, which has the feel of European art-house cinema. Marvin Hamlisch's score adds to the dreamlike quality, while Burt Lancaster has one... Read more
Published on 28 Jul 2006 by Bazzer

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