‘Swimming Pool’ is intriguing and eccentric

Be prepared for something unexpected, offbeat and very sensual

underneath the surface of this intriguing “Swimming Pool” in the

south of France. The mature but still lovely femme fatale Charlotte

Rampling,is excellent as Sarah Morton, a proper English author of

crime dramas suffering from classic writer’s block at the beginning

of this tale. Her publisher offers her the use of his summer home on

the continent to give her a fresh perspective away from ordinary life

to inspire her new novel.

This simple premise sets up a peaceful respite in the country for

Sarah, but her quiet vacation doesn’t last long.

Young and sassy Julie, the college-age daughter of the publisher,

suddenly shows up at the villa with her own key to dad’s summer house

for an unscheduled visit. The sexually adventurous Julie quickly

becomes the center of attention in the nearby village. To Sarah’s

chagrin, Julie brings home a succession of wildly different men to

sample the pleasures around the swimming pool of her father’s French

estate.

Our reserved middle-aged writer becomes a curious and somewhat

jealous voyeur to Julie’s free-wheeling lifestyle. Sarah steals a

look at Julie’s bawdy diary and wants to incorporate its lively truth

into her own novel. But in between writing sessions at her laptop,

Sarah watches the increasingly strange poolside encounters between

Julie and her paramours with growing unease.

To tell you where all this leads would be to give away one of the

most intelligent and eccentric movie plots of the year. French

actress Ludivine Sagnier is stunning as the uninhibited Julie in a

role that grows more complex as the story progresses. Director

Francois Ozon transforms obvious situations into the perplexing and

uncertain, leaving viewers to draw their own conclusions from the

clever puzzle that remains on the screen. In the midst of summer

blockbuster nonsense made for teenagers, “Swimming Pool” is worthy of

an educated adult’s attention.

* JOHN DEPKO is a Costa Mesa resident and a senior investigator

for the Orange County public defender’s office.