The Swimming Pool (1969)

Powerful

Overrated

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Leisurely yes but packed with an undercurrent of fierce and troubling action. I first watched this in a rather poor English dub and then again in German without subtitles and it was striking the second time how noticeable are the various glances, grimaces and come ons. Supposed old friend of Delon's character and ex lover of Rome Schneider turns up at an idyllic Riviera villa being rented by the couple and brings his supposed daughter, Jane Birkin. I think Maurice Ronet is somewhat lacking and barely believable as a man about town and certainly not as a daddy. Anyway it is beautifully shot in wonderful setting in and about the eponymous 'swimming pool' in which quite a lot happens, from the sexually charged encounters at the start to the more sombre goings on later. Some fantastic costumes help Schneider and Birkin look sensational throughout and the former young lady doesn't look at all bad naked either, especially when she is sampling an altogether different brushstroke with a branch of a nearby tree.

And what eye candy - Alain Delon. "La Piscine" is about two impossibly beautiful people in various stages of undress having a lot of foreplay. Or so it seems. Jean- Paul (Delon) and his lover (or wife, not sure) Marianne (Romy Schneider) are vacationing in a friend's mansion in Saint-Tropez. Lots of sun, making out, and swimming.Marianne's ex-beau, Harry (Maurice Ronet) calls to say he's in the area, and Marianne invites him and his nubile daughter Penelope (Jane Birkin) to stay with him. It's obvious that Harry still desires Marianne, so there is automatic tension. Then Jean-Paul seduces Penelope. Soon tension leads to something worse."La Piscine" is a typical foreign film - the ideas are sometimes obtuse, and it moves slowly. It's also too long by as much as a half hour. It's hard to concentrate on the plot because the beauty of the stars, Delon and Schneider, and their incredible chemistry overwhelm the story - to the extent that one doesn't really understand Jean- Paul's attraction to Penelope.What erupts is the suppressed anger of the once-suicidal Jean-Paul, the competitiveness between him and Harry, and Harry's jealous possession of his daughter, whom he only recently met. As Penelope says, he likes to have her travel with him because people often think she's his mistress.Schneider and Delon were a famous real-life couple but had broken up about five years earlier. Their chemistry is undeniable, and it's heartbreaking to think about what happened to her. Both actors give very "movie" performances - nothing overplayed, many subtle, nonverbal reactions. All of the acting is good, and the conflict scene between Harry and Jean-Paul is excellent."La Piscine" is considered a classic, but I believe many Americans had a hard time with it due to its languid pace and a tendency to look for action rather than psychology. Enjoy it for the beautiful photography and beautiful actors, if nothing else.

French, very french -- not to say a complete and utter bore. Plus, Schneider and Delon are overrated. Just being young and beautiful isn't acting. +++ Now you can stop reading, I just had to fill those extra lines with dummy text to get the minimum amount of words. On the other hand, Latin nonsense automatically corrected by American spell check could cause some fun: Lorem gypsum dolor sit met, consecrate autopsies el-it, sued resumed temper incident ult la bore et dolor magma aliquot. Ut enema ad minim venial, quit nostril excitations Ullman laborious nisi ult illiquid ex ea common conceit. Quis cute cure reprehended in voluptuous valid ease slim dolor emu fagot null parade. Excepteur sent objects cupidity non proudest, stunt in culpa quo officer descent moll it annum id est labium. Duis airtime veil eum inure dolor in handwrite in voluptuary valid ease moles tie conceit, veil ileum dolor emu fagot null faceless at verso Eros et axeman et gusto Odin diagnose quo bland present lutetium Cyrill telnet argue dues dolor tie forgot null faceless. Lorem gypsum dolor sit met, consecrated imposing el-it, sued diam noun nob assumed incident ult Laredo dolor magma aliquot brat volatility.

We can only buy the NTSC VHS released in French Canada in 1970's.......Alain Delon plays a French writer having an affair with Romy Schneider, a successful journalist. At a swimming pool in St. Tropez......a record executive (Maurice Ronet) arrives with his nubile young daughter (Jane Birkin). Harry and Marianne were once lovers and he makes a pass at her. Meanwhile, Jean-Paul makes a pass at Harry's daughter. After some drinking, Harry and Jean-Paul fight, resulting in Harry being pushed into the pool and drowns......the young couple tries to get their stories straight in order to avoid being charged with murder in this sometimes masochistic feature from France.....French Language Jacket and the version we find in Quebec is French Language with No English Subtitles.....Running Time is 2 Hours 03 Minutes.....We no longer buy ex-rentals because most have been tampered with......