GUENOT PHILIPPE This is for me one of the best pictures ever made on the fall of the American dream, in a sort of Scott Fitzgerald or Norman Mailer manner. I won't add much more to the wonderful comments already made about this unique movie in cinema history. Only one thing, I will point out. One important sequence, near the motorway, when Lancaster character tries to cross it. I remembered David Miller's masterpiece - LONELY ARE THE BRAVE - the final scene, when Kirk Douglas, the rebel cowboy fighting againt the modern world, is suddenly hit and killed by a truck loaded with toilets seats!!! This sequence for me was so unforgettable. THE SWIMMER is also a very eerie tale, where no one ever exactly knows where the lead comes from, what his life was before, even if he really exists...Is he a dream, or a nightmare? This feature also speaks of the superficiality of the rich people and their emptiness of their lives, speaking, endlessly of pure domestic problems - such a the swimming pool vacum cleaner issues - gossips around the swimming pools where nearly NONE of them gets into - except of course the public swimming pool sequence, where Lancaster seems to suffocate. In this movie this so poignant character slowly encounters ostracism fromt the people he meets. In the final scene, water - rain - is not in the pool but OUTSIDE the pool, in the same time as Lancaster character suddenly seems to collapse, suddenly becomes so fragile. The total contrary of the beginning where he is so athletic and tanned. It is a totally metaphoric film made in the turn of the Hollywood history, a couple of years before EASY RIDER, WILD BUNCH, THE GRADUATE. Lancaster legend of the old Hollywood is here on the spot. Lancaster is for me the perfect brave, the true brave. The brave facing his own loneliness. Terrific.

mark.waltz Swimming with the sharks of society is a hobby for the former Jim Thorpe, all American, jumping hurdles again and running from estate to estate for a quick lap and chat with the owners. It seems that he knows all of these society people, some seemingly nice, others outwardly hostile, and a few of the women obviously in lust with his tight body. He's sort of an angel to some and a devil to others, and in each of these encounters a little something is learned. Lancaster is in every single scene, surrounded by a cast of very familiar faces who pop in and out quickly yet leave a mark on this journey. The film starts off on a friendly note but things get tense quickly. Some of the wealthy businessmen types try to get him involved in business deals or offer him a job. The women, who range in age from early 20's to late 50's, ogle him. It's apparent that everybody wants a piece of him, whether to possess him or chew him up and spit him out.Among the famous faces are Kim Hunter, Marge Champion, Diana Muldaur, Cornelia Otis Skinner (making accusations towards him that you can only guess what transpired) and Dolph Sweet. He flirts with a young Joan Rivers, playing an insecure woman who basks in his attention and nearly falls under his spell. Guests at a party stand by as the hostess anayalates him. Later Muldaur begs him to leave her alone as her facade of hate crumbles to show the things line where hate ends and love begins. It's a journey for this spirit whom Lancaster plays to realize the impact he's made on everyone of these people, one which has destroyed some of them and one which threatens to destroy him. It's a hard film to understand if you are not in the right frame of mind, and one which could use repeat viewings to pick up things you may have missed, that is if you dare to put yourself through it a second time.

rdoyle29 Burt Lancaster stars as a resident of an upper class California suburb who realizes that he can essentially swim home from a friends house by hopping from backyard pool to backyard pool. So he does. Along the way, his encounters with the residents of the homes point to hidden secrets and general suburban malaise. I like Lancaster in this film, but I can't say I like the film very much. Perry fills it with a lot of visual touches that were very typical of middle-brow, late-60's art cinema, and it really buries the film under a load of extraneous nonsense. All that aside, a lot of the plausibility of the film's plot rests on people not saying exactly what they're thinking even when they have no reason to not just ask Lancaster what the hell is wrong with him. The film points and gestures at a final twist that's just so blatantly obvious by the time it arrives that the characters's refusal to just come out and say it is frustrating.

Schuriken Bravo Mr. Lancaster this is a real good one. We get to see all the aspects of your character and all your talent all in one movie. Happy, sad, in love, out of love, sane, insane, sunny, rainy, modest, out of place, in place, athletic, worn out. I can't stretch this enough, you get the point.What a beautiful movie this is I recommend it to everyone.The man who wrote this was real intelligent and the director did a marvelous job with Lancaster. Exceptional idea and execution. Simple, yet twisted enough, leaving you to fill in the gaps in the end without being incomplete.Contemporary real film makers, who don't click away their talents on the computer and a green screen, should be taking notes on this one.Enjoy !!