For many foreign filmmakers, the transition from having success on films from their native land to Hollywood is very hard. While recently, filmmakers like Alfonso Cuaron and Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu have made the successful transitions with American films while Hong Kong filmmaker John Woo is losing touch with his original audience just as Americans are discovering his old Hong Kong films. French filmmaker Francois Ozon whose filmmaking career was successful in France had a small following in the U.S. but for his 2003 film, Swimming Pool, he chose to expand his audience a bit by adding English dialogue with help from one of his regulars, British actress Charlotte Rampling and French newcomer Ludivine Sagnier.

Swimming Pool, like many of Ozon's films, has elements of mystery and intrigue along with textures of sexuality. Directed by Ozon with a script co-written with Emmanuele Bernheim is a film about a middle-aged writer whose success has burned her out as she chose a change of scenery in France. She then gets an unexpected houseguest from her publisher's daughter as the tension of sex, age, and morals come to ahead for a grisly third act when a man is found dead. A return to the dark intrigue of Ozon's films after the campy musical mystery of his previous film 8 Women, Swimming Pool is filled with lush scenery, heightened tension between Rampling and Sagnier, and an oozing dose of sensuality that seduces the audience. While it's not up to par with some of Ozon's earlier films, Swimming Pool is a sexy thriller that just keeps titillating till the end.

For the successful middle-age writer Sarah Morton (Charlotte Rampling), her days of writing mystery about an investigator named Dormel seem to be at a standstill. Though she still has a respectable audience with lots of money, she doesn't like to be seen by fans as she felt her last book wasn't up to par. Making things worse is the fact that she's forced to compete with a new writer named Terry Long (Sebastian Harcombe) who both has the same publisher John Bosload (Charles Dance). Bosload asks about plans for her next book in her Dormel series but Morton admits, she isn't sure if she wants to write another book about him. Bosload suggests she should go to France for a vacation and work on her next book where she would stay at his villa. She accepts the offer and leaves for France.

She gets picked up by Bosload's gardener Marcel (Marc Fayolle) as she looks into the house and feels peaceful for the first time in quite a while. She enjoys the serene, tranquil tone of the French countryside as she befriends a waiter named Franck (Jean-Marie Lamour) and starts to work on her next Dormel book. For Sarah Morton, it seems she'll finally have some peace until suddenly, she gets the unexpected arrival of Busload's French daughter Julie (Ludivine Sagnier). Sarah is angered that Busload didn't tell her that Julie would arrive as Julie's presence annoys Sarah. While Sarah is stricter, uptight, and concentrative on her work, Julie is looser as she careens through the house by sometimes, swimming in the house's dirty pool topless while getting to know Sarah.

Sarah feels bothered as she is more intrigued by Julie’s wild personality as she would take men home and often have sex with them. Through all the annoyance, Julie has become an unexpected muse while Julie enjoys seducing men including Franck. Sarah lets down her tight shield to learn more about Julie as she discovered a black eye she had during one of her nights. Julie doesn't like to mess around as she talks about her mother, who lives in Nice alone as her father is separated from her. Julie doesn't really like John but has no resentment towards him as Sarah becomes a bit sympathetic. One night, Julie brings home Franck for a little party as Sarah decides to join in the fun by smoking a bit of grass and drinking before going to sleep. Unfortunately the night doesn't end as the third act begins when Franck is found dead as Sarah discovers more about Julie as they try to leave no remnants of Franck as it leads to a huge twist in the end.

The brilliance of Swimming Pool is truly the work of Francois Ozon. Ozon manages to trick the audience into thinking what they're seeing, particularly in the film's script. Though the ending is somewhat disappointing, from another angle, it comes off as something surreal. The script doesn't lose its pacing as it slowly builds up suspense as the audience gets to know more about Sarah and Julie. Ozon doesn't get ready to let things become mysterious until the third act is when everything becomes ambiguous and it's in Ozon's directing that really shocks right to the end. While it's a thriller with a light tone of violence, it seduces its audience through its restrained drama and sensual tone.

If Ozon's 8 Women recalled the look of Douglas Sirk, Swimming Pool recalls the colorful lush look of Pedro Almodovar circa-Talk to Her. Cinematographer Yorick Le Saux gives a lush, colorful tone to the film by playing up to the French countryside's idyllic atmosphere with help from production designer Wouter Zoon, who helps make the house look like a paradise as well as the swimming pool itself that you definitely want to swim in everyday of your life. Another great aspect to the film that plays up to its suspense is the piano-driven score of Phillippe Rombi who plays up to the film's lush tone with a melodic-driven score while bringing a light intensity to the film's suspenseful third act.

While the male supporting cast is small throughout the film, the actors in their respective roles do play the characters perfectly, notably Charles Dance. Dance, who has been known to American audiences in villainous characters, gives a surprising performance as the money-driven John Bosload with a sense of class and sly wit. Marc Fayolle's Marcel and Jean-Marie Lamour's Franck are excellent in the roles as men being seduced by women while the smaller roles of Sebastian Harcombe and Mireille Mosse as Marcel's daughter are fun to watch. Even the men who play Julie's conquests are fun to watch that gives the film a bit of humor in its more serene tone.

Charlotte Rampling gives a luminous performance as the tight Sarah Morton. Rampling brings a sense of class and wisdom to her performance while displaying elements of motherly love in an intense dramatic scene with Sagnier. Rampling even gets the chance to be sexy in her role, even if she doesn't have to take her clothes off. What Rampling brings to the table is an elegance and grace of older actresses that is rarely seen in American films.

The film's most captivating performance easily is Ludivine Sagnier in her third Ozon film after 2002's 8 Women and 2000's Water Drops on Burning Rocks. Sagnier plays up to her ingénue status to the hilt by seducing the audience with her voluptuous, evocative look while commanding her role by having sex with men and getting into squabbles with Rampling. Sagnier has often been compared to another recent ingénue, Scarlett Johansson since both women can seduce the audience with their look and sexiness (though Johansson hasn't done nude scenes, yet) while playing her seductress role to the hilt. Even Sagnier does well in speaking English without looking like a fool while having great dialogue in French. The tension between Rampling and Sagnier is even more amazing as well as the chemistry as they both play their roles naturally and exquisitely.

***Updated DVD Tidbits on 6/28/04***

The 2003 DVD Region 1 release of Swimming Pool is released in two versions, the theatrical rated version and an unrated version with more nude scenes from Ludivine Sagnier. With its previews of the films from Focus Features including Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Sylvia, and many others, the DVD includes English captions along with French and Spanish subtitles along with DTS and 5.1 Surround Sound for English and 5.1 for French. In its Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85: 1 format, the film looks even better and intriguing in its beauty. The film's special features though are just sparse with the film's trailer and four extended deleted scenes mostly involving Charlotte Rampling.

The first scene is a train scene where Rampling's Sarah Morton is in a train from England to France where she hears the conversation of a young woman without a ticket stub who is presumed to be Sagnier's Julie. The second scene is an extended arrival scene where Sarah arrives at the house, walks around the town, and read her work while chilling in the house. The third is Sarah taking a look at the ruins of the house of Marquis de Sade while later on, asking Marcel on the whereabouts of Julie, who hasn't shown up in the past two days. The fourth and final scene is a phone conversation between Sarah and Charles Dance's John Bosload who isn't happy with the new direction Sarah is taking with her work.

***End of DVD Tidbits***

Despite a somewhat, disappointing ending, Swimming Pool is a sexy, intriguing thriller from Francois Ozon. What really surprised everyone about this film is how it did well in the American art-house scene amidst the blockbuster summer of that year where the Charlie's Angels ladies were overshadowed by Ludivine Sagnier in a bikini. With great performances from Sagnier and Charlotte Rampling, Swimming Pool is not just a good introduction to Ozon but also French cinema as well. Throughout the film, it just keeps on guessing as lines between reality and fiction are blurred more than ever. For a sexy, sunny film that oozes in its lush, sensual tone, Swimming Pool is the film to watch.

Francois Ozon Reviews:

See the Sea (1997):

http://www.epinions.com/content_140494409348

Sitcom (1998):

(Coming Soon)

Criminal Lovers (1999):

http://www.epinions.com/content_140499586692

Water Drops on Burning Rocks (2000):

http://www.epinions.com/content_137746419332

Under the Sand (2000):

http://www.epinions.com/content_140736499332

8 Women (2002):

http://www.epinions.com/content_129237159556

5x2 (2004):

http://www.epinions.com/content_234372238980

A Time to Leave (2005):

http://www.epinions.com/content_287590551172

A Curtain Raiser (2006):

(Coming Soon)

Angel (2007):

(Coming in 2007)


Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good for Groups
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age