“The Swimming Pool” (1969) – the Legendary Love between Romy and Alain”
Title: “The Swimming Pool”
Original Title: “La Piscine”
Date of Release: 1969
Director: Jacques Deray
Cast: Romy Schneider, Alain Delon, Jane Birkin, Maurice Ronet
“The Swimming Pool” by Jacques Deray is not only a cult item of French film, but, above all, a screen legend of the love of Romy Schneider and Alain Delon. Although the picture was made long after the breakup of their engagement, it became an ex post immortalization of the affection of the actors, called “the most beautiful couple in the history of cinema.” Today it is impossible to look at the intimate frames of this production without being moved. For “The Swimming Pool” has turned into a timeless monument to the always beautiful, young and delightful audience of Roma and Alain.
“The Swimming Pool” and French cinema of the 1960s.
Jacques Deray is a director who, like many other French filmmakers in the late 1960s, succumbed to a fascination with the American noir current. Due to the filmmaker’s interest in the psychological aspects of human actions, some even wanted to see in him, as in Henri-Georges Clouzot, a “French Hitchcock.” His acclaimed 1969 “The Swimming Pool” also grows out of this penchant, although the vibrantly colorful holiday setting seems at first glance to be at odds with the aesthetics of black cinema. Here, at a beautiful estate in Saint-Tropez, Jean-Paul and Marianne are enjoying a wonderful vacation. However, the idyll is interrupted by a visit from the woman’s former lover, Harry (Maurice Ronet), who shows up with his 18-year-old daughter Penelope and decides to stay for a while. The apparent atmosphere of carefree leisure masks the growing tension between the friends. Eroticism begins to mix with hostility, and friendship with hatred.
As in American noir, here we have criminal intrigue, ambiguous characters, hidden passions and femme fatale – a whole set of characteristic motifs. From the beginning, the production gained the attention of the media and the public because of its select cast, which, in addition to the electrifying pair of former lovers: Alain Delon and Roma Schneider, included Jane Birkin. Male-female tension coalesces here with contrasting models of femininity. The beautiful, mature Romy finds a counterbalance in the young Jane, who paradoxically turns out to be a fatal woman. For while at first it seems that Marianne is the main charge of conflict between Jean-Paul and Harry, it is the teenage Penelope who becomes the undercurrent of both men’s actions in the finale. Seemingly innocent, fragile, almost absent and observing everything from a distance, she ultimately ignites passion and jealousy. And enraged by having to part with her, Jean-Paul, in a fit of uncontrollable rage, drowns his friend in the pool.
“The Swimming Pool” – the great return of Romy Schneider
“The Swimming Pool” is a film that represents the triumphant return of Romy Schneider big screen, whose star was clearly fading in the late 1960s. After splitting with Delon, the actress underwent a nervous breakdown, and she healed her wounds in the arms of German Harry Meyen and soon became his wife. When she gave birth to her son David in 1966, she devoted herself almost entirely to motherhood. She did not appear on screen, and directors lost interest in her. Also Jacques Deray had no intention of including a risky name in the cast of his film. He offered the role to Delphine Seyrig, Angie Dickinson and even Monica Vitti, but none of the actresses wanted to appear in a production in which she would only be wearing a bathing suit most of the time.
So Delon suggested Romy Schneider, his former fiancée. And he was adamant enough about it to issue an ultimatum: either she plays the part or he resigns from “Swimming Pool.” Delon personally called Roma with the proposal, and she almost immediately began packing her bags. On August 12, 1968, she flew to France, and her ex-fiancé was waiting for her at the airport, just like all those years ago. The welcome went down in history. As Delon later said: “The meeting was emotional and more than friendly. No, it wasn’t about passion, none of that. It was something different, stronger, more powerful. It’s impossible to convey it in words.”
The photos of the laughing, friendly embracing couple are among their most beautiful shots together. At the time, they were both incredibly beautiful, young and mature at the same time – in their feelings and their relationship with each other. Romy transformed from the glamorous girl known for her famous role as Sissi into a woman fully aware of her qualities. Rested, tanned, transformed – she was radiant, and Alain Delon, after years of separation, looked at her with undying admiration.
“The Swimming Pool” – the most beautiful film pair of lovers
Not surprisingly, both of them performed magnificently on the screen, and the film went down in history as an immortalization of their past, but seemingly re-created romance. The frames showing Jean-Paul and Marianne’s intimate moments, kissing, teasing, mutual attraction and repulsion years later are watched almost with emotion. It can be said that “Swimming Pool” is in this respect the most tangible proof of the magic of cinema, creating an alternative reality. The audience almost immediately read the film precisely according to this romantic key. Moreover, the means of expression used made the picture timeless. This is because the characters do not bear names, and thanks to their bathing suits, they almost lose the specific features that situate them in an era. The universalism of the story is also emphasized by the drastic reduction of dialogues in favor of body language. “Swimming Pool” opens with a metaphorical tale of love, betrayal, lust and crime.
The production has gained cult status. In 2010, Christian Dior used an excerpt from “The Swimming Pool” in an advertisement for its Eau de Sauvage perfume. In turn, established in 1990 in honor of the Austrian actress, the Romy TV award also refers to Deray’s famous film. Indeed, the statuette is shaped like a woman mending the left shoulder strap of her dress – a scene with Marianne taken from “Pool.”
In reality, the famous couple’s relationship did not last, both of them are sadly gone forever, but in cinema their legend is still alive and wonderful. This is the legend of Roma Schneider and Alain Delon – eternal brides.
