Swimming Pool (2003)

Director:

François Ozon

Writers:

François Ozon (screenplay)
Emmanuèle Bernheim (writer)

Release Date:

21 May 2003 (Belgium)

Genre:

Crime | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

Dive into this summer's sexiest mystery

Plot:

A British mystery author visits her publisher's home in the South of France, where her interaction with his unusual daughter sets off some touchy dynamics.

Plot Keywords:

Publisher | France | French | Countryside | Swimming Pool

Awards:

2 wins & 15 nominations

Cast

Charlotte Rampling	...	Sarah Morton
Ludivine Sagnier	...	Julie
Charles Dance	...	John Bosload
Jean-Marie Lamour	...	Franck
Marc Fayolle	...	Marcel
Mireille Mossé	...	Marcel's Daughter
Michel Fau	...	First Man
Jean-Claude Lecas	...	Second Man
Emilie Gavois-Kahn	...	Waitress at Cafe (as Emilie Gavois Kahn)
Erarde Forestali	...	Old Man
Lauren Farrow	...	Julia
Sebastian Harcombe	...	Terry Long
Frances Cuka	...	Lady on the Underground
Keith Yeates	...	Sarah's Father
Tricia Aileen	...	John Bosload's Secretary

MPAA:

Rated R for strong sexual content, nudity, language, some violence and drug use.

Runtime:

102 min

Country:

France | UK

Language:

English | French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Switzerland:16 (canton of Zurich) | Canada:A (Ontario) | Philippines:R-18 | Argentina:16 | Australia:MA | Canada:18A | Chile:14 | Finland:K-15 | France:U | Germany:12 (bw) | Hong Kong:IIB (re-rating) | Hong Kong:III (original rating) | Ireland:18 | Italy:VM14 | Japan:R-15 | Netherlands:12 | New Zealand:R16 | Portugal:M/16 | Singapore:R(A) (edited version) | Singapore:R21 (re-rating) | South Korea:18 | Sweden:7 | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:16 (canton of the Grisons) | UK:15 | USA:R (cut)

Filming Locations:

France

Company:

Fidélité Productions

Trivia:

Charlotte Rampling's character Sarah is named after her sister, who killed herself at age 23. She told The Guardian, "I thought that after such a very long time of not letting her be with me that I would like to bring her back into my life."

Goofs:

Continuity: The London Tube in the beginning scenes of the movie shows the exterior of a 1996 stock Northern Line Train, but interior of a 1972 stock with a visible "Central Line" maps over the windows.

Quotes:

Sarah Morton: I pity your mother.
Julie: You pity her? Why?
Sarah Morton: Well, I imagine having a daughter who comes home with a different man every night must be difficult for a mother.
Julie: Well, you imagine wrong. You know what? You're just a frustrated Englishwoman who writes about dirty things but never does them. You can shove your uptight morals up your ass!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Semi-Pro (2008)

Soundtrack:

Nocturne in C Sharp Minor - op.19 no.4

What's real and what's fiction

This film owes a great deal of gratitude to the second collaboration between Francois Ozon and his leading lady, Charlotte Rampling. They ought to team up more.

As with the previous film, Under the Sand, this is an enigmatic piece of cinema. This film, I believe, has more to do with Sarah Morton's imagination than with the actual story presented to us. There are so many hidden clues within the story that everyone will have a different take in what is presented in the film and what the actual reality is.

Francois Ozon is not a boring director. He will always present an interesting story, fully developed, with many twists to get his viewer into going in different directions trying to interpret it all.

Charlotte Rampling is magnificent as Sarah Morton, the repressed author of mystery novels. Ludivine Sagnier is very good as the mysterious Julie, the alleged daughter of Sarah's publisher, but now, is she really that person?

The ending will baffle the viewer. This is a film that will stay and haunt one's mind for days.