GOTTA SEE IT # 2 - "THE SWIMMER"
“THE SWIMMER”
Starring: Burt Lancaster, Janet Langford, Janice Rule, Tony Bickley
Written by: John Cheever (story), Eleanor Perry (screenplay)
Directed by: Frank Perry
Colour - 1968
96 mins.
A companion piece to “Seconds”, this late sixties stunner dazzles the mind and heart in equal measure as it, once and for all, slams the door shut on the “Father Knows Best” generation.
Burt Lancaster plays Ned Merrill, a middle aged business man, who surprises a group of well-off friends - whom he hasn’t seen in a while - by using each of their pools to "swim home."
Both literally and figuratively an attempt to go home again, Ned Merrill’s journey slowly pulls back the curtain on mid 20th century American fatherhood to reveal the flawed, scared, and in-denial boy-man behind it. In doing so, director Frank Perry (David and Lisa, Rancho Deluxe) and writers John Cheever (Alfred Hitchcock Presents) and Eleanor Perry (Diary of a Mad Housewife) create a character who is no likeable slam dunk. Ned's charismatic and full of life, yet also desperate and pathetic – a man taking bows to a chorus of boos he cannot hear. He’s suffering from a severe mental block, yes, but it is entirely self-serving, as it shields him from dealing with those around him – especially the ones he’s hurt.
To Ned, a swimming pool is not just a hole in the ground filled with water - it’s a river leading home; a destination in and of itself; a womb; an escape from reality; a reminder of a long since evaporated childhood. A swimming pool soothes and re-energizes him - it’s a place of refuge. His connection to it is authentic and emotional. On the other hand, his friends - who own the very pools in which he swims - treat them as nothing more than status symbols. It is telling that none of them are actually shown swimming in their own pools.
Though filled with fine actors, this is a one man show with Lancaster mobilizing his trademark cheer and vigour as a kind of last front in a war against Ned’s quickly encroaching reality. Lancaster holds nothing back – shattering to a million pieces his usual assuredness and macho bravado. Allowing himself to be seen as physically and mentally weak, he melts the metal armour of American manhood and, in doing so, gives a performance of stunning naked intensity.
Somewhat visually embracing the spirit of the times, “The Swimmer” swirls with vibrant colours, lens flares, lap dissolves, and one remarkable slow motion sequence. The music, by Marvin Hamlisch (Ordinary People, Sophie’s Choice), is conventional Hollywood, but its’ perfect – so sad, so romantic and so wistful.
Ultimately, “The Swimmer” is a film about a man who’s drowning in his own illusions and he doesn’t even know it.
Starring: Burt Lancaster, Janet Langford, Janice Rule, Tony Bickley
Written by: John Cheever (story), Eleanor Perry (screenplay)
Directed by: Frank Perry
Colour - 1968
96 mins.
A companion piece to “Seconds”, this late sixties stunner dazzles the mind and heart in equal measure as it, once and for all, slams the door shut on the “Father Knows Best” generation.
Burt Lancaster plays Ned Merrill, a middle aged business man, who surprises a group of well-off friends - whom he hasn’t seen in a while - by using each of their pools to "swim home."
Both literally and figuratively an attempt to go home again, Ned Merrill’s journey slowly pulls back the curtain on mid 20th century American fatherhood to reveal the flawed, scared, and in-denial boy-man behind it. In doing so, director Frank Perry (David and Lisa, Rancho Deluxe) and writers John Cheever (Alfred Hitchcock Presents) and Eleanor Perry (Diary of a Mad Housewife) create a character who is no likeable slam dunk. Ned's charismatic and full of life, yet also desperate and pathetic – a man taking bows to a chorus of boos he cannot hear. He’s suffering from a severe mental block, yes, but it is entirely self-serving, as it shields him from dealing with those around him – especially the ones he’s hurt.
To Ned, a swimming pool is not just a hole in the ground filled with water - it’s a river leading home; a destination in and of itself; a womb; an escape from reality; a reminder of a long since evaporated childhood. A swimming pool soothes and re-energizes him - it’s a place of refuge. His connection to it is authentic and emotional. On the other hand, his friends - who own the very pools in which he swims - treat them as nothing more than status symbols. It is telling that none of them are actually shown swimming in their own pools.
Though filled with fine actors, this is a one man show with Lancaster mobilizing his trademark cheer and vigour as a kind of last front in a war against Ned’s quickly encroaching reality. Lancaster holds nothing back – shattering to a million pieces his usual assuredness and macho bravado. Allowing himself to be seen as physically and mentally weak, he melts the metal armour of American manhood and, in doing so, gives a performance of stunning naked intensity.
Somewhat visually embracing the spirit of the times, “The Swimmer” swirls with vibrant colours, lens flares, lap dissolves, and one remarkable slow motion sequence. The music, by Marvin Hamlisch (Ordinary People, Sophie’s Choice), is conventional Hollywood, but its’ perfect – so sad, so romantic and so wistful.
Ultimately, “The Swimmer” is a film about a man who’s drowning in his own illusions and he doesn’t even know it.
