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Movies / On DVD / Swimming Pool
Swimming Pool

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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.

Runtime: 1 hr 43 mins

Genre: Dramas

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

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41 - 60 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Q Network Film Desk | comment Comment
09/07/03
James Kendrick
James Kendrick
Q Network Film Desk

The film is enthralling while it lasts, even if it doesn't completely hold together on further reflection.

Full Review Source: Las Vegas Weekly | comment Comment
09/06/03
Josh Bell
Josh Bell
Las Vegas Weekly

The swimming pool in the film, as depicted by Ozon, is a self-reflexive epicentre...

Full Review Source: Apollo Guide | comment Comment
09/01/03
Jon Lap
Jon Lap
Apollo Guide

A titillating and unhurried character drama with all the trappings of a thriller, but with erotiscm substituted for danger driven tension.

Full Review Source: CinemaBlend.com | comment Comment
08/30/03
Joshua Tyler
Joshua Tyler
CinemaBlend.com

Bracingly adult and ripe with an ambiguity that will promote coffee-house conversations for hours afterward.

Full Review Source: Fresno Bee | comment Comment
08/29/03
Donald Munro
Donald Munro
Fresno Bee

A sexy, stylish mystery that thrives on ambiguity.

Full Review Source: Oregon Herald | comment Comment
08/19/03
Mark Sells
Mark Sells
Oregon Herald

The payoff is so murky that audience members will recognize they have been fooled, but not with what that trick ending actually means.

Full Review Source: Lawrence Journal-World | comment Comment
08/15/03
Jon Niccum
Jon Niccum
Lawrence Journal-World

tends to stay with you… for days, weeks even

Full Review Source: Norman Transcript | comment Comment
08/15/03
Jim Chastain
Jim Chastain
Norman Transcript

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Film Threat | comment Comment
08/12/03
Film Threat
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

You'll leave entertaining pleasant theories of what just happened, but not feeling bewildered enough for your head to hurt.

Full Review Source: Orlando Weekly | comment Comment
08/08/03
Steve Schneider
Steve Schneider
Orlando Weekly

Ozon simultaneously manages to make his film lazily sexual and crisply suspenseful.

Full Review Source: Orlando Sentinel | comment Comment
08/08/03
Jay Boyar
Jay Boyar
Orlando Sentinel

Ozon even steals from himself...Eventually, [his] compulsion to imitate becomes an end in itself, taking his movie in directions it hasn’t been built to travel.

Full Review Source: Nick's Flick Picks | comment Comment
08/08/03
Nick Davis
Nick Davis
Nick's Flick Picks

One of my favorite films of the summer.

Full Review Source: JoBlo's Movie Emporium | comment Comment
08/07/03
JoBlo
JoBlo
JoBlo's Movie Emporium

Two parts psychological thriller and one part pretentious French art-house head-scratcher that leaves you mumbling, 'Duh.'

Full Review Source: New York Observer | comment Comment
08/06/03
Rex Reed
Rex Reed
New York Observer

The basis is classic mystery, yes, and that should be respected, but Ozon is using the form to arrive at a much deeper character study in a manner that is almost Polanski-esque.

Full Review Source: Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC) | comment Comment
08/06/03
Ken Hanke
Ken Hanke
Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: eye WEEKLY | comment Comment
08/05/03
Jason Anderson
Jason Anderson
eye WEEKLY

It's a provocative experience, one that floats peacefully yet makes us wonder what might be lurking beneath the surface.

Full Review Source: Des Moines Register | comment Comment
08/02/03
Jeffrey Bruner
Jeffrey Bruner
Des Moines Register
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | comment Comment
08/02/03
Boston Phoenix
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

An erotic thriller, with an emphasis on eroticism, presumably because Ozon couldn’t come up with real thrills.

Full Review Source: Reno Gazette-Journal | comment Comment
08/01/03
Forrest Hartman
Forrest Hartman
Reno Gazette-Journal

...it's really a shame that the movie becomes as silly as it does.

Full Review Source: Reel Film Reviews | comment Comment
08/01/03
David Nusair
David Nusair
Reel Film Reviews
 
 
41 - 60 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 >> >|
all

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