Deftly mixing eroticism, psychology and art, Ozon has made a provocative movie while adding another stunning performance to Rampling's collection.
Swimming Pool (2003)
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Reviews Counted:149
Fresh:126
Rotten:23
Average Rating:7.1/10
Consensus: A sensual thriller with two engaging performers demanding our undivided attention.
Rated: R [See Full Rating] for strong sexual content, nudity, language, some violence and drug use
Runtime: 1 hr 43 mins
Genre: Dramas
Theatrical Release:Jul 2, 2003 Limited
Box Office: $9,942,554
Synopsis: Swimming Pool is world-premiering In Competition at the 2003 Cannes International Film Festival. With Swimming Pool, Europe’s most daring and inventive writer/director, François Ozon, reunites with... Swimming Pool is world-premiering In Competition at the 2003 Cannes International Film Festival. With Swimming Pool, Europe’s most daring and inventive writer/director, François Ozon, reunites with his two favorite leading ladies, Charlotte Rampling (of Under the Sand) and Ludivine Sagnier (of 8 Women). Deliciously sophisticated and sexy, Swimming Pool, the first of Mr. Ozon’s movies to be made in the English language, revisits the sense of mystery that infused Under the Sand. Sarah Morton (Charlotte Rampling) is a famous British mystery author. Tired of London and seeking inspiration for her new novel, she accepts an offer from her publisher John Bosload (Charles Dance) to stay at his home in Lubéron, in the South of France. It is the off-season, and Sarah finds that the beautiful country locale and unhurried pace is just the tonic for her – until late one night, when John’s indolent and insouciant French daughter Julie (Ludivine Sagnier) unexpectedly arrives. Sarah’s prim and steely English reserve is jarred by Julie’s reckless, sexually charged lifestyle. Their interactions set off an increasingly unsettling series of events, as Sarah’s creative process and a possible real-life murder begin to blend dangerously together. François Ozon wrote the original screenplay in collaboration with French novelist and screenwriter Emmanuèle Bernheim (with whom he previously worked on Under the Sand). The film is produced by Mr. Ozon’s longtime collaborators, Fidélité’s Marc Missonnier and Olivier Delbosc. Mr. Ozon’s most recent film was the award-winning Focus Features release 8 Women, one of France’s top-grossing films of 2002. Prior to making 8 Women, Mr. Ozon attained international attention for his features Under the Sand, Water Drops on Burning Rocks, Criminal Lovers, and Sitcom; his hourlong film See the Sea; and several award-winning short films, among them A Summer Dress. The Paris native is a graduate of the French national film school (FEMIS). A Focus Features presentation of a Fidélité co-production with Headforce Limited, France 2 Cinéma, Gimages Films, and Foz with the participation of Canal +. Charlotte Rampling, Ludivine Sagnier, Charles Dance. A Film by François Ozon. Swimming Pool. Director of Photography, Yorick Le Saux. Costume Designer, Pascaline Chavanne. Art Director, Wouter Zoon. Editor, Monica Coleman. Original Score, Philippe Rombi. Produced by Olivier Delbosc and Marc Missonnier. Screenplay Collaborator, Emmanuèle Bernheim. Written and Directed by François Ozon. [More]
Starring: Charlotte Rampling, Ludivine Sagnier, Charles Dance, Marc Fayolle
Starring: Charlotte Rampling, Ludivine Sagnier, Charles Dance, Marc Fayolle, Jean-Marie Lamour, Mireille Mosse, Michel Fau
Director: Francois Ozon
Director: Francois Ozon
Screenwriter: Francois Ozon, Emmanuelle Bernheim
Studio: Focus Features
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Reviews for Swimming Pool
In taking one sort of movie and seemingly teasing it into another, the director and his leading ladies have made a lovely argument about where the real mysteries lie in our lives.
Swimming Pool is a slick psychological blender with an ending that causes a re-evaluation of everything that preceded it.
...primarily a movie about the disruptive and empowering effects of female nudity -- which is kinda cool. Too bad about the ending.
Unsure of the correct solution but aware of all the possibilities, the only conclusion I could come to was how I didn’t give a hot damn about any of them.
Swimming Pool is more an exquisite art object than an involving movie. So be it.
A taut, psychological tete-à-tete that rivets us and keeps us guessing.
An elegant, brilliant and rapturous work... a languid cinematic treatise on the beautiful mystery of creativity that possesses the swirl of an involving dream.
Visually arousing and perceptive in its sexy cynicism, Pool allows one to dip more than just their reluctant toe in the cool and calming turquoise waters...provocative
Sex, murder, mystery, psychological drama, vintage Rampling, sensuous Sagnier, and a summer house in Provence -- here Ozon has all bases covered.
Like other Ozon movies, it feels lifeless and freeze-dried -- in the end, it's more about its own ideas than it is about actual characters.
...partly about a novelist's seach for inspiration, but it's mostly about the sort of inspiration that can come from watching Ludivine Sagnier stretched under the sun in a barely there bikini.
Ozon means to have perversity speak for him, but in the end, it doesn’t have a lot to say.
A moodily effective thriller that in the end also works as a clever commentary on the creative process.
It's worth seeing twice just for the privilege of watching Rampling and Sagnier match each other stroke for stroke.
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