Film
What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases
Bookmark this pageSwimming Pool (2002)
Director: François Ozon
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
Bored by her successful series of crime mysteries, uptight British novelist Rampling agrees to take a break in her publisher's Provençal holiday home, and finds the relaxed paradise creatively stimulating until his teenage daughter (Sagnier) turns up unannounced. Tensions and jealousies develop, coming to a head when the promiscuous girl brings home a handsome local waiter the older woman has been slowly befriending. For all its many twists (which by the end probably become a little perplexing for the inattentive), Ozon's film is predictable and derivative: why do blocked crime writers always fantasise themselves into a scenario which will restore creativity, and when is a swimming pool movie not about the return of the repressed? Moreover, some of the scenes in English are clumsily written and performed, and several details are downright implausible (has Ozon any idea how the publishing world functions?). Yorick Le Saux's sumptuous camerawork succeeds in building a mood of febrile sensuality, but can't compensate for the superficiality of the film's hackneyed premise.Author: GA
Cast & crew
Director: François Ozon
Producer: Olivier Delbosc, Marc Missonnier
Cast: Charlotte Rampling, Ludivine Sagnier, Charles Dance, Marc Fayolle, Jean-Marie Lamour, Mireille Mossé full cast
Duration: 103 mins
Most popular on this site
Top Stories
Time Out's 101 Films of the Decade
Ten years, thousands of movies and millions of dollars in international box office, and it all boils down to this
Martin Provost discusses 'Séraphine'
Trevor Johnston talks to the director of 'Séraphine' about bringing a little known French painter back to life
Our verdict on Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones
Peter Jackson ends a triumphant decade with a sentimental misfire with this lush Alice Sebold adaptation
On the set of Ken Loach's 'Route Irish'
Dave Calhoun meets Ken Loach on the set of his forthcoming Iraq war movie
Stephen Poliakoff discusses 'Glorious 39'
Stephen Poliakoff’s ‘Glorious 39’ is his first film for cinema since ‘Food of Love’ in 1997. Dave Calhoun met him
Is 'Paranormal Activity' the new 'Blair Witch'?
How does a film go from DIY experiment to box-office smash? 'Paranormal Activity' director Oren Peli explains
Steven Soderbergh on 'The Informant!' and 'The Girlfriend Experience'
We talk to Steven Soderbergh about his two forthcoming films: one featuring a porn star, the other a chubby Matt Damon
A gateway to all things 'New Moon'
In anticipation of 'The Twilight Saga: New Moon', Time Out is offering the chance to pick up a limited edition pack with three exclusive magazines and a free poster.
The films that deserve a TV spin-off
With Roland Emmerich suggesting he'd like to make a '2012' TV spin-off, we propose some more movie-to-TV serialisations
Time Out's 50 greatest animated films with commentary by Terry Gilliam
In celebration of the release of Pixar's 'Up' and Wes Anderson's 'Fantastic Mr Fox', read our rundown of fifty classic feature length animations
What do you think?
Post your review now