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French seductress Ludivine Sagnier cools off in director Franois Ozon's latest drama, Swimming Pool.
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Playing the game where one matches 22-year-old French actress Ludivine Sagnier with her American equal is an exercise in futility. Watching her sexy performance in François Ozon's latest featur -- the subtle, surprising thriller Swimming Pool -- leads to one conclusion: There are no current American film actresses with her dramatic range and chameleon-like versatility.
Sagnier believably switches from playing a tomboy character in Ozon's recent film, 8 Women (8 Femmes) -- a laugh-out-loud whodunit inspired by MGM musicals that stars France's leading actresses, including Catherine Deneuve, Isabelle Huppert, Emmanuelle Béart, Virginia Ledoyen and Fanny Ardant -- to her icy, femme fatale role in Swimming Pool.
Sagnier plays Julie, a free spirit who upsets the solemn lifestyle of stuffy British mystery writer Sarah Morton (Charlotte Rampling), who's living in her editor's (Charles Dance) country house in Lubéron, in southern France, to work on her next novel.
Only Gwyneth Paltrow comes to mind as a kindred spirit to Sagnier, but I can't imagine Paltrow outdoing Sagnier's sultry performance here.
As Julie, the adolescent siren who saunters through Swimming Pool in various stages of undress, Sagnier gives the film its adult, sensual charge. The film is a welcome break from the current deluge of family-friendly releases, whether they're of the blockbuster variety (Pirates of the Caribbean and Finding Nemo) or art-house fare (Bend It Like Beckham and Whale Rider).
Sagnier, a new name to most U.S. audiences, shares screen time with veteran actress Rampling, and their dueling performances are mesmerizing. Sagnier might supply the film's sex appeal, but Rampling ultimately brings its twisting murder mystery to life.
Rampling has worked with Ozon before on Under the Sand (Sous le sable), a somber drama about family loss. With Swimming Pool, Ozon evokes an equally rich performance from her.
In fact, as back-to-back performances, Under the Sand and Swimming Pool are equal to the actress' legendary work in celebrated films like The Damned, The Night Porter and The Verdict. One senses a lifetime of character nuances and emotional precision in her Swimming Pool performance.
If Sagnier is the bright new light at the heart of the movie, Rampling brings it depth and emotional richness. Basically, she's the acting equivalent of composer Phillippe Rombi's haunting, unforgettable score.
Early in the film, Rampling makes Morton into a stuffy homage to famous English mystery writers like Ruth Rendell and Patricia Highsmith. Morton is a solemn recluse, incapable of offering a polite "Thank you" to appreciative fans or enjoying the company of others. She's a sourpuss, but Rampling makes sure we glimpse the emotional heartache and trauma behind the grouchiness.
If Ozon's screenplay -- a collaboration with Emmanuèle Bernheim -- grants Sagnier all the zest, he compensates Rampling by giving her the more dynamic character in the movie.
Morton shows signs of happiness once she arrives in southern France. For once, she seems to be enjoying herself, if only for the fact that she's found a new story idea.
Her initial response to Julie is antagonistic. Clearly she doesn't approve of the girl's freewheeling ways. Slowly, a strange friendship develops between these two distant women after a real-life murder falls into their country house and the lush pool alongside it. Everyone becomes a player in the mystery -- including the elderly handyman Marcel (Marc Fayolle) and the handsome waiter at the local café (Jean-Marie Lamour).
Yet it's the once-frumpy Morton who keeps the mystery humming. She's come alive, boosted by a series of sly surprises equal to anything in her novel, which is the theme at the heart of Ozon's deliberate mystery.
At the beginning of Swimming Pool, Morton is a dull, make-believe Miss Marple, incapable of living a life as interesting as her books. By the surprising conclusion, she proves herself capable of creating her own excitement. More importantly, she enjoys it.
Swimming Pool grade: A.
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