Did Anyone see the movie Swimming Pool??

[smirkymonkey]

What did you think? And, no, this is not an invitation to discuss how hot Ludivine Seigner (sp?) looks naked. Personally, I thought they exposed her just a bit too often - made it seem gratuitous. Yet, Charlotte Rampling lended a bit of respectability to the film.

I am not a prude and I thought it was an ok movie, but sometimes I think the line between art and pandering for mass appeal can be blurred?

BTW, I always sunbathe topless in Europe or on a European Island, so that is not the issue. It's just that I think it was really overdone.

[Township75]

1. I just rented it on Friday...

good movie, but for some reason I thought it would actually become a murder mystery, not a murder cover-up.

Overall, I thought it was entertaining. That girl was naked a lot, but it was France so what do u expect? She looked a lot better than the main actress naked.

Maybe it was too much effort for mass appeal, but I guess it didn't bother me, because I knew before seeing the movie that her role was to be a slutty publisher's daughter, so I expected to see that.

[oregonjen]

3. Are you sure it was a cover-up?

Not part of her imagination? Did all the events actually happen?

[Township75]

5. I am fairly sure...

if her=Sandra Morton (I think that was her name)....she didn't hallucinate at all during the film, so why would she all of a sudden begin to hallucinate?

Or maybe you are referring to the movie actually becoming the book she wrote?

[oregonjen]

7. The events eventually becoming a book

Did it all happen the way we saw it or did she imagine it? Could she have been at the house alone the whole time?

[smirkymonkey]

6. I actually think it was all her imagination,

as you saw at the end, the real daughter was not the same girl. It seemed like Sarah (Charlotte Rampling), being a repressed English woman, used the character of Julie to act out all her hidden fantasies and inspired her to write more authentically.

Not totally sure on that though, please correct me if you have some inside knowledge.

[stopbush]

12. I agree with your take on the movie.

The ending...with the very British-looking daughter out in the yard...made the point.

[oregonjen]

2. My husband and I saw it

It had one of those endings that make you wonder and are not quite satisfied.

[kevinam]

4. I kinda liked it.

I thought the nudity was kinda part of developing the character, and the contrast with the uptight writer. Actually, I thought the amount of nudity would lessen the chances of broad appeal, especially here. Although a thread about Ludivine probably wouldn't be a bad idea, wow.

I also am not a prude and generally sun bathe topless, granted I am a dude :) ...Kevin.

[patcox2]

8. Gotta get past the boobies thing; it was interesting psych. movie

Please, don't let some nakedness distract you. I was fascinated with the ambiguity, was it real, or was it the novelists imagination? Much more ambiguous than the prior Charlotte Rampling movie with the same director, in which she cannot accept that her husband has drowned. For more fun, check out some Isabelle Huppert movies like The Piano Teacher (truly disturbing) or Venus Beauty ( very amusing). But these are european movies, so there will be nakedness and sex and some of the naked people will not be perfect 19 year olds. reality and maturity are difficult things.

[smirkymonkey]

10. I saw the Piano Teacher and agree

that it was probably one of the most disturbing movies I have ever seen. Isabelle Huppert plays disturbing very well. I watch a lot of European films and I do not have a problem with nudity. But it just seemed like the nudity in swimming pool was very Hollywood (i.e. gratuitous and unnecessary in its frequency). I felt as though it gave an otherwise interesting film a sort of adolescent quality.

Were you implying that I have a problem with reality and maturity? I hope not, but I have to admit that I am a bit offended if you were. Someone can walk around all day naked in a film and it wouldn't bother me if it was integral part of the story.

I think what bothers me is to see European films cater to the tastes of American teenage boys. Kind of a dumbing down. I hope it's not a trend.

[kevinam]

11. I think what Pat was saying...

about reality and maturity had to do with the actors in the European movies. That the actors and actresses are not beautiful bodied 19 year olds. That they are older (mature) and not in perfect shape (reality, we all don't have 6 pack abs). I didn't read that as criticism, just observations of European movies...Kevin.

[smirkymonkey]

13. Oh, thanks, now that I read it again

I see it differently. I guess I am a little oversensitive sometimes. Thanks for clarifying! :)

[SheilaT]

9. The nudity was truly not an issue for me,

even though I watched it with my 16 year old son. But I do think the murder in it was a fantasy, and that it was actually difficult to know what was real and what was taking place in the writer's imagination. I can't recall if it was based on a novel, but if it was, I should read the book.