Romy Schneider and Alain Delon in a scene from "La Piscine." Courtesy: Rialto Pictures.
We learn in chemistry class that water is a conduit for electricity, but what transpires in "La Piscine," a sultry yet coolly detached tango of an erotic drama from France, is no science experiment. Rather, this sun-dappled portrait of attractive, rich and oh-so-vain people takes its time to make a splash, but make no mistake: the sparks fly in languid, satisfying ways. It's safe to say this hot number, which seduced audiences on both sides of the Atlantic more than a half century ago, hasn't lost any of its bite.
Alain Delon in a scene from "La Piscine." Courtesy: Rialto Pictures.
Surfacing in theaters in an immaculate 4K restoration, the 1969 film plops viewers on a reclining chaise and coaxes them into bringing out their inner voyeurs. It keeps returning to its titular swimming pool in ways that channel the morose ennui of Michelangelo Antonioni and the calculating cruelty of Patricia Highsmith, particularly in her Tom Ripley books. But the way director Jacques Deray lingers over and frames stars Alain Delon and Romy Schneider's Coppertone bodies is what gives a mighty sting to what could have been a remote look at the bored and wealthy. This tale of relationship woes among jet-setters is a dry cocktail, but it has quite a kick to it.
"La Piscine" is mostly set in a villa overlooking St. Tropez, where Jean-Paul (Delon), a novelist turned ad agency exec, and his girlfriend Marianne (Schneider) are spending the summer. They while away the hours at the property, which belongs to a friend, taking a dip in the light turquoise waters of a pool that would make artist David Hockney jealous. The couple's chic wardrobe, which, coupled with cinematographer Jean-Jacques Tarbès' dreamy lensing and Michel Legrand's pitch perfect score, is alone worth the price of admission, gives their frisky frolicking the glossy allure of a coffee table book layout.
Romy Schneider and Alain Delon in a scene from "La Piscine." Courtesy: Rialto Pictures.
And yet, one detects something is a little off about Jean-Paul: a possessive streak kept in check by the warm rays of the French Riviera. Marianne, who has put her journalism career on hold to hang out with this pouty hunk, enjoys the steamy foreplay, but it's pretty clear she's the adult in this relationship. (Schneider here reminded this critic of the late Kelly Preston.) Their chemistry is palpable, but that dark cloud hanging over Jean-Paul suggests that things could go horribly awry under the wrong circumstances.
Cue a phone call from Harry (Maurice Ronet), a mutual friend who used to be Marianne's boyfriend, announcing he's in town with his teenage daughter Penelope (Jane Birkin) in tow. A teenage daughter neither Jean-Paul nor Marianne knew anything about. The face-palm moment comes shortly after the visitors swerve into the villa in Harry's rust-colored Maserati, aka "the monster." Marianne, ever the accommodating hostess, suggests that, with so much room at the villa, why not stay with them? Harry, a record producer with a brash, larger-than-life personality and a penchant for pushing people's buttons, gladly accepts the invitation. Uh-oh.
Alain Delon and Romy Schneider in a scene from "La Piscine." Courtesy: Rialto Pictures.
The stage is set for this playground to become a pressure cooker. It's clear Harry still has the hots for his ex, and it's equally clear Jean-Paul's corrosive jealousy doesn't care that he's known Harry the longest. But the match that threatens to light up this powder keg is Penelope, who lets her hosts buy her wallflower routine long enough to set her trap. Under that shy demeanor (Birkin totally gives off Diane Keaton vibes, at least at first) is a master manipulator whose capacity to play people like a piano rivals her daddy dearest's. Birkin, seen here before she embarked on a fruitful filmmaking career of her own, uses Penelope's demure aloofness as a decoy to ensnare Jean-Paul, whose territorial hold on Marianne doesn't prevent this 18-year-old brunette to catch his wandering eye.
The subject matter here might remind you of Claude Chabrol, aka the French Hitchcock, but "La Piscine" keeps the heat turned on when Chabrol would have opted for a more clinical approach.
You can detect its DNA in the work of "Fatal Attraction" director Adrian Lyne and "Basic Instinct" auteur Paul Verhoeven. But Deray is considerably more laid back than either of these two filmmakers. If this movie were a person, it would wear designer sunglasses and act uninterested in you, then casually caress that sensitive spot behind your knee when you least expected it. Horny yet chill, even when the story takes an expected but skillfully calibrated dark turn. It casts a spell because it's so sneaky about turning the screws on you.
Alain Delon and Maurice Ronet in a scene from "La Piscine." Courtesy: Rialto Pictures.
If the story rings a bell, that's because "Call Me by Your Name" director Luca Guadagnino put his own earthy spin on it in 2015's "A Bigger Splash." He retained the essential structure of Deray's film, even though he changed the setting to the island of Pantelleria off Sicily. However, in casting Tilda Swinton as a rock star opposite Matthias Schoenaerts as her filmmaker lover, he alters the dynamic between the central couple, nixing Marianne and Jean-Paul's dysfunctional power play for a far sturdier bond. In rounding out the cast with Ralph Fiennes and Dakota Johnson, Guadagnino remained faithful to the spirit of "La Piscine" while putting his imprint on the material.
Ah, but there's one place where the original can't be beat: the sequence that gives the movie its title. That beautiful swimming pool is the setting for terrible malfeasance, and this is where "La Piscine" morphs from arty Skinemax to police procedural, a kick-in-the-head hangover following a night of debauchery. It's a transition that could have derailed the film, but Deray pulls off the tonal shift brilliantly. The noir-tinged turn of events almost feels organic, thanks in large part to the director's knack of having his cast toss off exposition in the most casual way, as if they were making small talk.
Alain Delon and Romy Schneider in a scene from "La Piscine." Courtesy: Rialto Pictures.
This is where the Highsmith vibes figure most prominently. We already know Delon (Tom Ripley in "Purple Noon") can play cold-blooded, but what's intriguing about his performance is the way he clings to Jean-Paul's wounded humanity despite his monstrous actions. These pretty (and petty) people might not be profound, Deray appears to say, but that doesn't mean their shallowness is devoid of nuance. So let's hear it for "La Piscine's" transfixing ripples. Witnessing toxic masculinity taken to its logical extreme has rarely been this gratifying.
The 4K restoration of "La Piscine" is playing at the Coral Gables Art Cinema thru July 1. It is also showing at the Tropic Cinema in Key West. Lovers of French cinema, rejoice. The Coral Gables Art Cinema will also be bringing two Cannes 2020 selections in the coming week: "Summer of 85," François Ozon's nifty chronicle of first love and queer longing, and the acclaimed #MeToo drama "Slalom."
