THE SWIMMER
A film review by Shane R. Burridge
Copyright 1996 Shane R. Burridge
The Swimmer (1968) 94m.
When we first see Ned Merrill (Burt Lancaster) dive into a pool and then jump out again he is spry, jovial, and optimistic. By the time he has had his last swim he is wading in and hauling himself out, a broken man. Director Frank Perry's cult favorite follows Lancaster's progress from one residential home to another as he plots his route (on foot) back to his hillside mansion according to the availability of swimming pools in the area. Lancaster knows his wealthy neighbors well, but we soon discover that he has been out of touch for some time, and that they know something we don't.
Despite our introduction to Lancaster's character, who is full of compliments and bon homie, we can't help feeling doubtful about him. Part of this is due to that fixed, trademark Lancaster grin and his constant promises and appointments (which mount up until we realize he can never remember them all), but I believe much of the discomfort we feel is also due to his appearance. Dressed only in swimming trunks, he is exposed to the elements, constantly getting wet and drying off. It isn't long before he is footsore and shivering (significantly, the only time we see him inside a building is when he is showering). It appears that Lancaster is stuck halfway - he is baring his physical self but not his soul. Does he realize he has a problem? Perry's use of light flare and out-of-focus links perpetuate Lancaster's confused state of mind - his head is in the clouds, as his constant ruminations about the sky testify; his conversations with people consist almost wholly of reminiscences. Interestingly, the moment we associate Lancaster's reveries with denial, the characters he encounters start to change. Initially full of good cheer, they become more hostile throughout the film's course. Because the tricky script concentrates mostly on Lancaster we don't notice that half the people he meets are probably just as screwed up as he is. Perry equates the status symbol of the backyard pool with all the snobbery and foibles of the nouveau-rich. They don't want him in their pools / they don't want him in their social circle. By the time Lancaster has reached the public baths at the end of his journey, he has descended into an overcrowded, overchlorinated hell. It was a journey he had to make: he just failed to recognize the real reason.
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews