Francois
Ozon doesn't direct with nary a heavy hand in the symbolic, character-driven
Swimming
Pool which showcases fine performances from veteran Charlotte Rampling
(Under the Sand) and the youthful
Ludivine Sangnier (8 Women). This
coyly mounted French psychological drama involves Rampling's mystery writer
Sarah Morton finding a nice change of pace in the holiday abode of her
eccentric London publisher John Bosload, the dignified Charles Dance.
Ozon, also the scenarist,
is again intrigued by the opposite sex and water without its natural salt
content and works nicely on the tension that develops between Sarah and
Sagnier's rebellious Julie, Bosload's estranged sexy daughter. The
writer of detective fiction is called Miss Marple by the free-spirited
Julie and feelings of frustration and repression are handled with cool
ambiguity by Ozon who again has a knack for keeping his audience interested
in his characters and story.
