In "La piscine", a couple of lovers enjoy a sun-kissed holiday sizzling with sex and fun. Their golden days of pleasure gradually turn ugly after the arrival of two visitors, to wit a mutual friend accompanied by his pretty daughter. It turns out that even scantily clad sunbathers as handsome as Greek gods and goddesses can harbor painful secrets, deep resentments and troubling failures of judgment...
Both a thriller and a drama, "La piscine" focuses on the psychological development of the characters, rather than on the mystery or puzzle aspect of the crime. Indeed, it delves deep into the characters' souls : by the time murder is committed, the viewer knows just why that particular murderer is killing that particular victim. The pace is slow, but this is not a bad thing, since it gives the story ample time in which to breathe and evolve. Certainly there is no lack of tension - on the contrary. The acting is excellent, with a tangible chemistry between Alain Delon and Romy Schneider.
"La piscine" points out that a life of sustained hedonism may have considerable drawbacks, such as an impossibility to create family ties based on both tenderness and duty. The movie is notable also for its dissection of the kind of friendship that, upon closer examination, will turn out to be not friendship, but rather hatred or rivalry turned inside out. Here it is hard not to think of an old French saying : "It is better to be alone, than to have a bad companion"...
Both a thriller and a drama, "La piscine" focuses on the psychological development of the characters, rather than on the mystery or puzzle aspect of the crime. Indeed, it delves deep into the characters' souls : by the time murder is committed, the viewer knows just why that particular murderer is killing that particular victim. The pace is slow, but this is not a bad thing, since it gives the story ample time in which to breathe and evolve. Certainly there is no lack of tension - on the contrary. The acting is excellent, with a tangible chemistry between Alain Delon and Romy Schneider.
"La piscine" points out that a life of sustained hedonism may have considerable drawbacks, such as an impossibility to create family ties based on both tenderness and duty. The movie is notable also for its dissection of the kind of friendship that, upon closer examination, will turn out to be not friendship, but rather hatred or rivalry turned inside out. Here it is hard not to think of an old French saying : "It is better to be alone, than to have a bad companion"...