nonafelice, that was really an interesting interview, thanks!

It has been a while since I saw this film, I have to rent it and see it again, and see the parts that were cut ~

Marilyn, are you sure it isn't much deeper than that? Of course, the real daughter isn't there, but is the "daughter" in reality Sarah? Is Sarah perhaps doing those things as Julie? Or is Julie really the mother? Is the scar actually a symbol that the daughter was taken from the mother after the accident as an unborn child? Therefore the "daughter" is really the mother? Or is Sarah acting out her unfilled fantasies as Julie and has she in fact had sex with those men and actually killed Franke? I think this movie is much, much deeper than just what you have said. Why was Sarah unable to reach the publisher while the daughter could? What does that mean? Why does Sarah appear in Julie's dress at the end? Why was the dwarf so "weird" about mentioning the mother's death? Why does Sarah keep removing the cross and yet it reappears? And was the dwarf Marcel's daughter or wife? There are a million unanswered questions.

Hmmm...I think you are overanalyzing it, Patrick. (I have not read any discussions on line, by the way, nor have I studied it as carefully as you have.)

But I'm a fan of Occam's Razor. If everything that occurs in the country house is really Sarah's novel, then all the points you raise can be explained, some of them by the simple inconsistencies of a less than perfect fictional plot. If Sarah is somehow acting out as Julie, or whatever, then Sarah is very, very crazy, and in all the parts of the film that are "real" as opposed to "fiction" she does not seem to be the least bit crazy. A touch neurotic in a literary sort of way, perhaps, but not scary-psycho-killer crazy.

PS I think the details, like the dress, and using the attractive, friendly local waiter as a character, are all just meant to show how the writer uses the world around her to fabricate a fictional world. And the seamless shift in the film between the two worlds is a way of saying that for the writer, she is, in some sense, living her fictional story at the same time that she is living her real life (a quiet, solitary, working holiday in a French country house).

I believe that at a high level, Marilyn is correct. Don't try to explain every plot detail. This film is art, and like a painting, or a song, different individuals can have different interpretations.

Because this film is an artistic work, we are still discussing it's meaning today. If you enjoy films like this, you may also want to see Mulholland Drive and Donnie Darko, two of my favorites.

Donnie, I did enjoy Donnie Darko a lot!

Marilyn said it so well

Patrick your remarks really got me thinking about the film, so after I posted the above, I was curious enough to read the interview with director Francois Ozon (link posted above by nonnafelice).

Here are 2 quotes from the interview that I think make it fairly clear what is going on:

"Where do writers find their inspiration? How does one make up a story? What is the connection between fiction and reality?"

"Speaking as a director, I wanted to show an imaginary world in as realistic a way as possible - flat - so that fantasy and reality are shown as equivalents. I feel that when you are inventing worlds, things soon get very mixed up: when you tell a story or make a film, you identify with the characters to such an extent that you end up sharing their thoughts and feelings, you feel the same emotions as they do. In other words, in the creative process, things are never simple: what is true, what is not true? What distinguishes reality from fantasy?"

Patrick, did you notice that as the writer becomes less and less blocked she becomes visibly lighter in the clothing she wears? I don't recall that she's wearing the girl's dress at the end, but if so I think it may mean that she's finally reached the end of the progression, when she delivers the book.

I think the "dress" she's wearing at the end when waving from the balcony is the red one she admired in the closet earlier. A total departure from her former self. Just as she has already had her book published -- she no longer relies on the un-interested publisher for the "sexual" attention she wanted or for anything else. She is a new person. Remember how on the train she told the woman -- "no, I'm not the person you think I am"?

Maybe I'm over analyzing, but I refuse to believe that the whole movie is so simple as just a matter of "a story a woman is writing". Read through that link of discussion I listed above and you'll find there are many viewers who are way out there in their analysis.

There are some interesting discussions on it (particularly about a third of the way down) at:
http://www.cinemaclock.com/aw/crva.aw/p.clock/
r.man/m.Brandon/j.e/i.5215/s.0/f.Swimming_Pool.html

(I broke the address into two parts to avoid an extra long line length here. Funny how things comes in waves - that's the second time in a couple of weeks I've seen mention of Occam's Razor, Marilyn.)

Oops, I guess one line would do.
http://www.cinemaclock.com/aw/crva.a...ming_Pool.html

I have the movie rented and haven't watched yet. Where in the Luberon will I be looking at?

Re: the switch from reality to the novel.
I nominate the scene where Sarah goes under the desk to unplug the lamp so she can plug in her laptop. Later on you see that she's using her computer with the light on.

Well after Patrick mentioned this movie, my curiousity was piqued so I rented it and watched it the other night. I had not read past Nikki's post nor have I read any of the links provided here...yet. I sort of feel the explanation might be somewhere in between the simple explanation Marilyn gives(which is what I had concluded) and something a bit more complicated as Patrick suggests. I rented a vhs tape so not sure what scenes might be deleted.

The dwarf at Marcel's house reminded me of Twin Peaks but I do think there may have been some issues intended viz a viz Mother vs daughter.

I love C Rampling so rented the video last winter. Until I read this thread, I realize, I could remember NOTHING about it except the bare bones of the plot and also the bare flesh and CR flashing at the gardener. SO was I drunk or was this film a snorer?

Note the fact that CR thickened up her English accent quite a bit in the film -- watch it side-by-side with Sous la sable to see how much more naturally she speaks French in the latter.

When I saw the movie I have to say I came to the same conclusion as Marilyn. I really liked the film, partly because I am always making up stories in my mind, to go with people I am observing. I stayed at a villa in Tuscany with my daughter and my sister. We were the only guest there. The people running the B&B consisted of an elderly woman who spoke German, a young man who spoke German, some English and Italian, and a young Italian lady who sat around topless by the pool. Well my sister and daughter and I had the best time coming up with who these people were and how there got to this B&B and what were their jobs and relationships. We had wonderful scenarios, none proved to be true. But the movie the Swimming Pool reminded me of how wonderful and intriguing our imaginations are.