SPOILERS THROUGHOUT:
I knew the whole story of Swimming Pool before I watched it as many people I know have seen it and told me about it. So I watched it knowing what the ending would be, the "twist" but not knowing how I would interpret it. And I was quite unsatisfied at the end.
Swimming Pool is one of the most frustrating movies I've ever seen. At first glance, it would seem like the kind of movie I'd love. It's visually beautiful, thought provoking, contains many twists and turns and great Oscar caliber performances. Yet I wasn't that into Swimming Pool, in fact I didn't really like it that much, though I concede it was very well done on many levels. There are a small handful of films that, while not very enjoyable to watch, ARE very well made pictures. This sort of falls into that category and I say sort of because of the ending.
Swimming Pool's ending, as has been discussed dozens of times on this board, is way out there. But rather then feel, at the end, that the movie was being clever, I felt a bit manipulated as well as let down. Many, actually most, people have said that Julie never existed, that the whole film was the enfolding of Sara's book. I am in agreement about that, although a small part of me has this other theory(which I haven't seen on this board except by a few people.) that Julie DID exist but that she was a ghost. There was something about when Sara asked her how she got the scar and she said a car accident. Then there was also the fact that she just seemed to float upwards in the swimming pool from out of nowhere. There are a few things that make me think that but the last scene of the Julie/Julia characters merging into each other while they wave at Sara kind of disputes that and lends credibility to the more popular thought, that this was Sara's book as it was being developed. (Another small part of me has another theory, actually it's a fear, that the writer HAD no ending in mind and figured why not just drive the audience crazy trying to figure it all out? But hopefully, I'm wrong on that one.)
Of coarse, there seem to be dozens of other theories floating about and that's my point. This movie is maddening. It will get in your thoughts and while that's supposedly a good thing, I beg to differ. It isn't thought provoking in a good way. It is thought provoking in a frustrating way. The way it ended, if indeed the most popular of the believed endings is truly accurate, is not that original and will leave many a viewer feeling cheated as I did. While I like twist endings, you want to have SOME idea about what you just watched and invested your time in. And if there IS a twist ending it should be one that has not been done before and one that makes the viewer glad they just spent all that time tuning in.
Many people I know LOVE Swimming Pool and were surprised that I didn't but I feel strongly that there were a few things off about it and not just the ending. It's been talked about as being highly sensual but I did not see any of that. It was also rather creepy and the pacing was very slow. And there's no payoff at the end.I didn't like the musical score, it got on my nerves after awhile. So those are my reasons for not liking this.
That being said, I'd never rate this under a 6 at least, because it WAS well made in several ways. The scenery was breathtaking, the premise clever and the performances by everyone particularly Rampling and Sagnier have to be seen to be believed. These two performances rank up there as two of the most amazing in movie history, and THAT'S what's mesmerizing about the film. And I will admit the film is mesmerizing. I didn't like it but I couldn't turn it off. There's gotta be a reason and much of it are the performances of these two women. They are beyond extraordinary.
In closing, Swimming Pool definitely is not for everybody particularly people who may have a difficult times with endings such as this (like me). I've seen a lot of complaints about the ending on this board, my feeling is we all liked Julie and wanted her to be real. The movie makers did to good a job making her a character we cared about. That's a plus for Swimming Pool but not for it's ending. My vote is 6. 5 out of 10.
I knew the whole story of Swimming Pool before I watched it as many people I know have seen it and told me about it. So I watched it knowing what the ending would be, the "twist" but not knowing how I would interpret it. And I was quite unsatisfied at the end.
Swimming Pool is one of the most frustrating movies I've ever seen. At first glance, it would seem like the kind of movie I'd love. It's visually beautiful, thought provoking, contains many twists and turns and great Oscar caliber performances. Yet I wasn't that into Swimming Pool, in fact I didn't really like it that much, though I concede it was very well done on many levels. There are a small handful of films that, while not very enjoyable to watch, ARE very well made pictures. This sort of falls into that category and I say sort of because of the ending.
Swimming Pool's ending, as has been discussed dozens of times on this board, is way out there. But rather then feel, at the end, that the movie was being clever, I felt a bit manipulated as well as let down. Many, actually most, people have said that Julie never existed, that the whole film was the enfolding of Sara's book. I am in agreement about that, although a small part of me has this other theory(which I haven't seen on this board except by a few people.) that Julie DID exist but that she was a ghost. There was something about when Sara asked her how she got the scar and she said a car accident. Then there was also the fact that she just seemed to float upwards in the swimming pool from out of nowhere. There are a few things that make me think that but the last scene of the Julie/Julia characters merging into each other while they wave at Sara kind of disputes that and lends credibility to the more popular thought, that this was Sara's book as it was being developed. (Another small part of me has another theory, actually it's a fear, that the writer HAD no ending in mind and figured why not just drive the audience crazy trying to figure it all out? But hopefully, I'm wrong on that one.)
Of coarse, there seem to be dozens of other theories floating about and that's my point. This movie is maddening. It will get in your thoughts and while that's supposedly a good thing, I beg to differ. It isn't thought provoking in a good way. It is thought provoking in a frustrating way. The way it ended, if indeed the most popular of the believed endings is truly accurate, is not that original and will leave many a viewer feeling cheated as I did. While I like twist endings, you want to have SOME idea about what you just watched and invested your time in. And if there IS a twist ending it should be one that has not been done before and one that makes the viewer glad they just spent all that time tuning in.
Many people I know LOVE Swimming Pool and were surprised that I didn't but I feel strongly that there were a few things off about it and not just the ending. It's been talked about as being highly sensual but I did not see any of that. It was also rather creepy and the pacing was very slow. And there's no payoff at the end.I didn't like the musical score, it got on my nerves after awhile. So those are my reasons for not liking this.
That being said, I'd never rate this under a 6 at least, because it WAS well made in several ways. The scenery was breathtaking, the premise clever and the performances by everyone particularly Rampling and Sagnier have to be seen to be believed. These two performances rank up there as two of the most amazing in movie history, and THAT'S what's mesmerizing about the film. And I will admit the film is mesmerizing. I didn't like it but I couldn't turn it off. There's gotta be a reason and much of it are the performances of these two women. They are beyond extraordinary.
In closing, Swimming Pool definitely is not for everybody particularly people who may have a difficult times with endings such as this (like me). I've seen a lot of complaints about the ending on this board, my feeling is we all liked Julie and wanted her to be real. The movie makers did to good a job making her a character we cared about. That's a plus for Swimming Pool but not for it's ending. My vote is 6. 5 out of 10.