Swimming Pool? Is that title supposed to make us think that it is deep? Why can’t it just be a good, old fashioned mystery thriller without attempting to get all existential on our ass? The plot: English mystery author Charlotte Rampling (playing Glenda Jackson playing PD James) goes to a French villa to clear her writers block. She is rudely interrupted by Ludivine Sagnier’s unruly, sex mad, teenage daughter of her agent. Much frostiness and supposed intrigue ensue. There is a murder – or is there? There are truths, half-truth’s and an ending which I have finally decided to peg as incomprehensible.
Annoyance is what Swimming Pool is about, and causes. Ozon, who last made 8 Women which I equally thought was an annoying failure (a musical with no good tunes) creates a tremendous atmosphere, but blows in in the last ten minutes. It is a bit obvious on the English vs French stuff, but that’s a battle that was fought a long time ago, Napoleonic Wars to be precise. It appears that we are not allowed a simple little murder on screen any more, instead the mystery is relegated to the television – Midsomer Murder’s anyone. A pity because the two actresses (both the best things in 8 Women) chew their roles up with gusto. It is a bit disappointing to discover that one of them might not be roles at all,and the other one is less than honest. At least that is what one of the cobbled together justifications for the ending suggests.