What a depressing piece of crap ... Joan Rivers looked weird back then . I wouldve pee'd in alot of their pools. They were mean and rude creepy people. He was just going through a mid life crisis.
I don't think I've ever truly hated a character before; Lancaster's Ned is the most repugnant person I've ever seen in a movie. At least those four dudes running things in Salò seemed pretty self-aware. I've watched my share of pinku films, where gang rape is a pretty common occurrence, but I've never felt my skin crawl the way it did during Ned's scenes with his babysitter or ex-mistress. This must be that "patriarchy" everybody's always telling me about.
The Swimmer is an interesting experiment that reminds me of Tom Hardy's much later Locke, but switch the car out for a series of pools. Burt Lancaster's Ned Merrill decides to get to his house by crashing every pool on the way, across a posh valley community. Sometimes he's treated as a long-absent friend, sometimes as a pariah, but everyone knows everyone, and through these encounters on the "river", we start to get a sense of what is going on. It's not exactly true to say we discover his story, but it does expose his character, and where he is in the present time. I don't think it's a spoiler to say it's the tale of a mental breakdown, because Lancaster's vacant smile telegraphs it very early on. Supporting by beautiful cinematography, this is a side-eyed take on the dark voyage into the soul, deconstructing a man one pool at a time, each one representing a memory but also a different malaise, on the way to self-destruction. Water often symbolically washes away the sins, but Ned actually gets dirtier as we go. Also, Ned hits on a young Joan Rivers!
Now that was unique and entertaining! I really like the movies that fall into the intersection of these two lists: "500 Essential Cult Movies" and "366 Weird Movies". Is there a search function, where you can search for movies that are on two specific lists at the same time?
Delicate allegory of America and maybe even the world. Great flow. Only one question: why haven't more people seen this gem and why is the single soul still to be found to recommend me this movie. If I'd might me that soul to you: highly recommanded.
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MindMeltingMovies
What a depressing piece of crap ... Joan Rivers looked weird back then . I wouldve pee'd in alot of their pools. They were mean and rude creepy people. He was just going through a mid life crisis.manwithpetgull
I don't think I've ever truly hated a character before; Lancaster's Ned is the most repugnant person I've ever seen in a movie. At least those four dudes running things in Salò seemed pretty self-aware. I've watched my share of pinku films, where gang rape is a pretty common occurrence, but I've never felt my skin crawl the way it did during Ned's scenes with his babysitter or ex-mistress. This must be that "patriarchy" everybody's always telling me about.xianjiro
what's with that "99.99.99%"??? Sounds like marketing gobbledygookdevilsadvocado
I've included this one in my list of best films from the New Hollywood era.New Hollywood - The American New Wave
chapteronemanhattan
This film is just so phenomenal and weird, dark and sad, and outright gorgeousdpka
Good, very differrent than expected but really good!Mhrass
God, How weird this movie is!zkrat
So weird, so good.monty
Watch Burt outrun a horse - well, almost.ViniciusOG
Just a little gem!Siskoid
The Swimmer is an interesting experiment that reminds me of Tom Hardy's much later Locke, but switch the car out for a series of pools. Burt Lancaster's Ned Merrill decides to get to his house by crashing every pool on the way, across a posh valley community. Sometimes he's treated as a long-absent friend, sometimes as a pariah, but everyone knows everyone, and through these encounters on the "river", we start to get a sense of what is going on. It's not exactly true to say we discover his story, but it does expose his character, and where he is in the present time. I don't think it's a spoiler to say it's the tale of a mental breakdown, because Lancaster's vacant smile telegraphs it very early on. Supporting by beautiful cinematography, this is a side-eyed take on the dark voyage into the soul, deconstructing a man one pool at a time, each one representing a memory but also a different malaise, on the way to self-destruction. Water often symbolically washes away the sins, but Ned actually gets dirtier as we go. Also, Ned hits on a young Joan Rivers!catherinefrances
I was highly intrigued to see how the ending would turn out. Beautiful scenery and cinematography. And overall, a enjoyable film to watch.moviebuff_11
Found the take on the character different to how he seemed in the short story, but it was still an interesting film.QQsniff
Now that was unique and entertaining! I really like the movies that fall into the intersection of these two lists: "500 Essential Cult Movies" and "366 Weird Movies". Is there a search function, where you can search for movies that are on two specific lists at the same time?bathkuyp
Delicate allegory of America and maybe even the world. Great flow. Only one question: why haven't more people seen this gem and why is the single soul still to be found to recommend me this movie. If I'd might me that soul to you: highly recommanded.Showing items 1 – 15 of 19