Event

The Swimmer

Sat Sep 15: 4.00pm

Frank Perry
US
1968
1h 35m
Series - 1968: Expressions of a Flame

About
Frank and Eleanor Perrys haunting adaptation of John Cheevers short story The Swimmer stars Burt Lancaster, tan and fit at 52, in one of his finest performances as Neddy Merrill. Neddy begins his day at a pool party in the affluent Connecticut suburb where he lives with his wife. Realizing that the many swimming pools of the neighborhood form a river of sorts, he decides to swim home for the day using the pools. As he visits the various houses and visits with their inhabitants, some strangers, some friends, the interactions take on an increasingly strained and surreal quality, and we begin to question how much time has passed before coming upon the films still-shocking ending. A classic Technicolor portrait of modern ennui, The Swimmer looks at the nostalgic American capacity for self-deception as a poisonous delusion.

it conveys the emotional texture of social disconnection with a vividness thats exceptionally unusual for American films featuring iconic movie stars. Lancaster achieves something thats difficult and altogether remarkable for films or art of any sort: he allows you to see how the hero sees himself and how that view poignantly and tragically differs from the way his world has grown to see him. Chuck Bowen, Slant