432 - Swimming Pool, France, 2003. Dir. Francois Ozon.

Thursday, March 8, 2018

432 - Swimming Pool, France, 2003.  Dir. Francois Ozon.

Sarah Morton writes murder mysteries.  She is British.  She is well established.  But she is unhappy.  And, shall we say, a bit uptight.

Sarah meets a fan on the train.  A nice lady who is reading her book.  The nice lady compliments Sarah.  Sarah is rude and nasty in return.  She denies being the author.  She gets up and walks off.

As she enters her publisher's office she discovers that he has a new author.  Terry Long.  And they are in a meeting together.  When they emerge, John Bosload, her publisher, introduces Terry and Sarah.  Sarah is rude and nasty to Terry.  He is pleasant in return.  After he leaves, she is vile about him behind his back.  Apparently, a publisher may have only one author.  And it must be Sarah Morton.  John calls her on it.  Calls her out for being jealous.

She is more than jealous.  She is bitter.  She claims she does not care about money.  She accuses him of getting rich off her writing.  She complains that he does not give her attention anymore.

John cheerfully offers her a vacation at his villa in the south of France.  Maybe some time away will help her.  Rest.  Relax.  Enjoy the warm sun.  Get some fresh air.

It has a swimming pool.

Sarah takes John up on the offer, and she is picked up at the airport in France by his groundskeeper Marcel.  After he drops her off at the villa, she goes into town and buys some food to prepare for her retreat.  Including two big tubs of sour cream.  Which she will not dollop but dump into a bowl and eat straight.  You are what you eat.

Sarah selects the bedroom upstairs overlooking the swimming pool.  The swimming pool is covered with a roll-up tarp, and Sarah intends to keep it that way.  No swimming for her.

The first thing she does is to remove the cross hanging on the wall and hide it in the nightstand drawer.  A symbolic expression of her spiritual condition.  She has hardened her heart.  Rejected grace.  Refused mercy.  Forsaken love.  She has taken the greatest expression of love the world has ever known and dumped it.  Who needs love when you can have rancor, acerbity, resentment, rage, friendlessness, heartache, and malice?

If she keeps this up, she might turn into Miss Havisham by year's end.

The sun does her good, and Sarah Morton allows it to inspire her.  The great Charlotte Rampling plays the character with layers that begin to unfold, and her character begins to grow likable.  She was once a part of swinging London, once married, probably involved with her publisher John and maybe upset that they are no longer together.  We begin to see her vulnerability.

She is intelligent, talented, and curious, and she opens herself to the culture in which she finds herself.  She already speaks fluent French, and she establishes an acquaintanceship with her waiter Franck in her daily visits to the local watering hole.  An aperitif?  No, something lighter.  A panaché?  No.  How about iced tea.

She asks him about himself.  He says he is from Lacoste.  The home of the Marquis de Sade's castle.  It is in ruins now.  She smiles.

Sarah takes her time and slowly begins to write.  She calls John.  She reports the good news.  She asks when he will come visit.

This is going to be a nice Summer.  An entire season alone.  Free to rest.  Free to write.  No hassles.  No interruptions.

Until Julie shows up.

What?

Sarah descends the stairs with the bed lamp, after removing the shade and the bulb.  She is prepared to strike.

A girl stands in the foyer, depositing her belongings.

Who?

John's daughter.

He did not tell me you were coming!

Oh.  You must be his latest conquest.

Ouch.

This new twist throws a wrench into Sarah's plans.  Sarah came here to work.  Julie came here to get away from work.  Sarah wants to be alone.  Julie wants to be with friends.  Sarah wants to stay focused.  Julie wants to have a good time.

These two women just might not get along.  A kerfuffle arises between them.  Sarah judges Julie's lifestyle.  Julie reacts against her mothering.  Sarah threatens to tell Julie's father what she is doing.  Julie laughs.  What does he care?  And this, after Julie starts off with an open heart, offering friendship, offering to get along.  She fills the fridge with food and offers to share it with Sarah.  She offers to talk, to hang out, to watch TV, to party.

And to go swimming.

Julie swims naked.  And this unnerves Sarah, who watches from the balcony above.  It begins the process of unraveling Sarah's tightly wound emotions.  Not only does Julie feel free to roam around the swimming pool in front of Sarah, but she also brings people over.

Julie likes men.

Lots of men.  A different man every night.  And Sarah feels cramped by Julie's lifestyle.  She retreats into her room.  Inserts earplugs.  Tries to avoid the upheavel.

And yet.

She just cannot keep away.

As we said, Sarah is curious.  After all, she is a writer.  And she is interested in human behavior.  Even when it annoys her.  Even when it offends her.

Maybe these two women will be good for each other after all.  Perhaps Julie will help Sarah open up and love again.  Perhaps Sarah will provide Julie with the parent figure she secretly longs for and needs.  Perhaps Julie will inspire Sarah's next novel.

Perhaps Julie is Sarah's next novel.

As the story develops, things turn in a different direction than we may have expected.  And then they turn again.

Sarah Morton writes murder mysteries.

And Julie has given her her next installment.