Any fans of The Swimmer (Burt Lancaster)

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by aforchione, Apr 4, 2014.

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  1. aforchione

    aforchione Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Englewood, Florida
    Saw this film on the late show when I was a teenager and became a fan. It's a strange movie. Joan Rivers has a small part in it, but it's Burt Lancaster's movie, he is great. Just released on Blu Ray with lots of extras, including interviews with Lancaster's daughter, his swim coach, Joan Rivers and Marvin Hamlisch, who composed the score.

    Lots of interesting "behind the scenes" Hollywood info.
     
  2. Tristero

    Tristero In possession of the future tense

    Location:
    MI
    I saw it for the first time on TCM a couple of years ago and really liked it. It's a quirky, unusual premise for a film, but most of it works and Lancaster gives a great performance. I like how you only gradually start to learn what has happened to him over the course of the film, with the dawning recognition that this is a man who has lost everything only hitting home at the end.
     
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  3. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits....

    Could be his last great film. Haunting and sad.
     
  4. ocd1

    ocd1 Well-Known Member

    Location:
    homosassa,fl. usa
    Love it. Read the John Cheaver short story, really good.
     
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  5. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits....

    The Cardigans singer is a fan.
     
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  6. kippy

    kippy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago, IL, USA
    I remember watching it on TV with my brothers and dad when I was really young (9 years old). All I can remember is all of us laughing about how nothing happens. "It's about a guy who goes swimming in other people's pools...nothing happens but swimming and talking." My dad used to use it as a threat of punishment. "If you don't finish pulling the weeds, I'm going to make you watch The Swimmer again." That's the type of stuff you had to watch when there was only 4 channels.
     
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  7. jupiter8

    jupiter8 Forum Resident

    Location:
    NJ, USA
    The kind of great movie that came out of a Hollywood starting to feel the effects of the counterculture while the studio system was running on fumes. I love it- Frank Perry is an interesting director who made some great, unexpected movies ("Ladybug, Ladybug" and of course "Mommie Dearest"!). Plus he's Katy Perry's uncle!
     
  8. Chris C

    Chris C Music was my first love and it will be my last!

    Location:
    Ohio
    My wife and I have always enjoyed this film. No question that it is a slow moving quirky movie, but, it so reminds me of growing up in the '70's, in a house that had a pool and parents who loved to entertain. A Burt Lancaster type of guy would often easily open the gate and plunge into our pool, because that was just the way it was back in those days!
     
  9. smilin ed

    smilin ed Senior Member

    Location:
    Durham
    Great film but there were still some good roles to come, especially in Ulzana's Raid, Atlantic City, 1900 and Local Hero.
     
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  10. zonkaraz

    zonkaraz Forum Resident

    Location:
    Livonia, MI, USA
    Timing is every thing. I just watched the new blu-ray of this last night. Excellent film!
     
  11. chacha

    chacha Forum Resident In Memoriam

    Location:
    mill valley CA USA
    I remember seeing this when I was a teenager and thought it was cool. I don't remember why he was so shattered at the end - can someone remind me ?
     
  12. Myke

    Myke Trying Not To Spook The Horse

    I just read the Blu-ray.com review, and it says a nervous breakdown.
     
  13. driverdrummer

    driverdrummer Forum Resident

    Location:
    Irmo, SC
    My copy is waiting at papa jazz in Columbia along with The Big Gundown. I love Grindhouse Releasing!!
     
  14. lv70smusic

    lv70smusic Senior Member

    Location:
    San Francisco, CA
    Well, in the last scene, he finally reaches his house. It has a broken window and nothing inside. As someone mentioned earlier, it isn't clear when the film begins but over time it's revealed that the main character has lost everything -- his wife and kids, job, money, house, and, last but not least, his youth.

    I watched it for the first time just a few days ago. I noticed the blu-ray release but then noticed I had recorded it off TCM a few months ago. I quite liked it even though I think a few of the scenes could have been tightened up.
     
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  15. johnny 99

    johnny 99 Down On Main Street

    Location:
    Toronto
    Stumbled upon this film late at night on TV years ago (the 80's?) and it blew my mind. It was so freaky to watch late at night and try to figure out what was going on...; then at the end, it hits you.
     
    Max Florian likes this.
  16. Henry Please

    Henry Please Forum Resident

    Location:
    Iowa City
    Based on the short story of the same name by John Cheever. The film adds a love story that isn't in the original story. Cheever is in the film. Lancaster's character, Ned, hugs Mary Cheever and then shakes John's hand. If you haven't read the story I highly recommend it.

     
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  17. lv70smusic

    lv70smusic Senior Member

    Location:
    San Francisco, CA
    I cannot imagine that many children would find the film interesting, particularly those as young as 9. This is definitely a film for adults, and I don't even know that I would have gotten nearly as much out of it at 25 years old had I seen it as I did at my age (52). And, of course, some people prefer films where stuff happens versus character driven stories. I quite like the latter myself and, in fact, prefer a "slow paced" character study to the vast majority of what Hollywood churns out which is, in my mind, empty fluff. Not that I'm totally immune to the charms of empty fluff depending on the ingredients in that fluff, but I particularly don't get the appeal of the very predictable, big budget action movies or the equally predictable romantic comedies.
     
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  18. JerolW

    JerolW Senior Member

    Saw it in the theatre on a first date. Good movie. I like BL.

    jerol
     
  19. frank3si

    frank3si Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Castle DE USA
    I saw it for the first time when I was young teen, and found it really fascinating. It's resonated with me ever since...
     
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  20. PageLesPaul

    PageLesPaul To be a rock and not to roll...

    Location:
    Lithia, FL USA
    I saw the second half of the movie, in my cabin, on a cruise ship, in the Mediterranean, last summer, as we were getting ready for dinner. Some of the characters remind me of my parents' friends back in the 60s. For some reason, this movie fascinates me. I bought the blu ray so I could see the beginning. I love this movie!
     
  21. John DeAngelis

    John DeAngelis Senior Member

    Location:
    New York, NY
    Agreed!
     
  22. Chris C

    Chris C Music was my first love and it will be my last!

    Location:
    Ohio
    I find Alexander Payne's movies to be very "slowly driven, character" films and if you haven't seen "Sideways", "The Descendants" or his latest "Nebraska" yet, you might enjoy them? I personally loved "Sideways" and "The Descendants", but please note, that Alexander Payne loves to have "very" flawed characters and somewhat "taboo" topics in his movies. In all honesty, "Nebraska" was too slow of a movie for me story wise, but, the actors (all of them), were really great in their roles. Of course, I find that a movie of our time (meaning that it takes place right now), is weird to see filmed in black and white and I'm still not sure why he filmed it that way, other than to possibly give the film a somewhat "timeless" feel about it and it's characters? It gives the film a sort of "rural" feel, which is kind of interesting.
     
  23. sugarbuzz

    sugarbuzz Forum Resident

    Just saw this film for the first time via the new Blu-ray release. It's an amazing, haunting film - and the BluRay looks gorgeous. Plus there's an over 2 hour "behind the scenes" feature with lots of great anecdotes and backstory.
     
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  24. I liked it. Very much a film of its time.
     
  25. F_C_FRANKLIN

    F_C_FRANKLIN Forum Resident

    A top 10 film for me, grabbed me as a kid. The more I watch it thru the years, the more it resonates with me. 2 entirely different films, however it's like "2001", every time I watch it, I learn something new. '68-'69 was a great period for film.
     
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