Swimming Pool [Unrated]

Director: François Ozon François Ozon

Overview

"French director François Ozon's deliberate thriller arrives on DVD in exclusive ""Unrated"" form thanks to the fine efforts of the folks at Universal Studios. Presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen, the image is virtually flawless. Well-balanced colors, even skin tones, and solid blacks highlight a transfer that was obviously taken from a pristine print of the film. Audio is presented in both English and French Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround, with an English DTS track also available. Though the dialogue-driven film certainly isn't one to give the top-shelf home audio system a workout, it is clear and free of any audible distortion. In addition to English closed-captioning, optional French and Spanish subtitles are also available. While fans of the film may be excited to notice the inclusion of deleted scenes, most of those included are fairly incidental and mainly feature star Charlotte Rampling walking deliberately through an unfamiliar French countryside. A theatrical trailer rounds out the extras."

Product Details

Release Date:	01/13/2004
UPC:	0025192382826
Original Release:	2003
Source:	Focus Features
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround, DTS 5.1-Channel Surround Sound]
Language:	English
Time:	1:43:00
Sales rank:	26,536

Special Features

Closed Caption; Theatrical trailer

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Charlotte Rampling	Sarah Morton
Ludivine Sagnier	Julie
Charles Dance	John Bosload
Marc Fayolle	Marcel
Jean-Marie Lamour	Franck
Michel Fau	First Man
Jean-Claude Lecas	Second Man
Erarde Forestali	Old Man
Lauren Farrow	Julia
Sebastian Harcombe	Terry Long
Frances Cuka	Lady on Train
Keith Yeates	Sarah's Father
Tricia Aileen	John Bosload's Secretary
Glen Davies	Pub Barman
Mireille Mossé	la fille de Marcel
Emilie Gavois-Kahn	la serveuse,Actor
Walter Greifenstein	Actor
Philippe Rombi	Actor,Composer
Yorick le Saux	Actor
Emmanuèle Bernheim	Actor
François Ozon	Actor

Technical Credits

François Ozon

Emmanuèle Bernheim

François Ozon	Screenwriter,Director
Sarah Bird	Casting
Antoinette Boulat	Casting
Olivier Delbosc	Producer
Marc Missonnier	Producer
Emmanuèle Bernheim	Screenwriter,Screenwriter
Timothy Burrill	Producer
Richard Deusy	Special Effects
Lucien Balibar	Sound Effects
Pascal Chauvin	Sound Effects
Samuel Dequidt	Sound Effects
Aymeric Devoldère	Sound Effects
Eric Grattepain	Sound Effects
Daniel Esperanssa	Special Effects
Neal Champion	Special Effects
Luciene Balibar	Sound/Sound Designer

Editorial Reviews

Filmmaker Francois Ozon, contemporary French cinema's master of eroticism, outdoes himself with this sultry thriller, a Hitchcockian exercise bound up in guilt, panic, and deceit, and additionally laced with overt sexuality. It provides a great leading role for the charming Charlotte Rampling, here playing a celebrated English mystery writer offered the loan of a French villa by her publisher (Charles Dance). The tired, repressed author is annoyed when her privacy is shattered by the unexpected arrival of her host's daughter (Ludivine Sagnier), a voluptuous little sexpot who brings men to the villa for sexual adventures and even seduces one of the older woman's potential paramours. Up to this point the film is little more than tawdry melodrama, but Ozon takes a sharp left turn by having Rampling's character commit an uncharacteristic act that she spends the rest of the movie attempting to conceal. The storytelling is unusually facile (for Ozon, anyway), although the pacing is a bit slow by Hollywood standards. Ultimately it's Rampling's audacious performance that distinguishes Swimming Pool, although she's ably supported by the fetching Sagnier, a swift-rising starlet and favorite of the director. If you're in the mood for a sophisticated, engrossing tale of suspense, look no further.