La Piscine [The Swimming Pool] *** (1969, Alain Delon, Romy Schneider, Maurice Ronet, Jane Birkin, Paul Crauchet) – Classic Movie Review 3346

Director Jacques Deray’s handsome looking 1969 drama stars the formidable quartet of Alain Delon, Romy Schneider, Maurice Ronet and Jane Birkin, who give mesmerising performances.

In the screenplay by Jean-Emmanuel Conil, two men (Delon and Ronet) and two women (Schneider and Birkin) end up spending a traumatic weekend in a villa in the South of France.

Delon and Schneider play lovers Jean-Paul and Marianne, who are spending their holiday in a villa near St Tropez. Ronet plays Harry, Marianne’s former lover whom she invites to stay along his teenage daughter, Pénélope (Birkin).

Partners are swapped as Jean-Paul seduces Penelope, strange games are played, tension rises and murder most foul is committed in this dark and puzzling film with flashes of wit and style. Enjoying the film’s one other decent role, Paul Crauchet plays the police inspector, Lévêque.

Despite the attractive warmth and comfort of the setting, it is a pretentious and chilly art movie, though it remains intriguing and is greatly enlivened by the top cast.

It was remade as A Bigger Splash in 2015.

Delon and Ronet memorably starred memorably together previously in Plein Soleil (1960), the first version of The Talented Mr Ripley.

© Derek Winnert 2016 Classic Movie Review 3346

Link to Derek Winnert’s home page for more reviews: http://derekwinnert.com/

The Alain Delon collection includes Diaboliquement vôtre, La Piscine, La veuve Couderc, The Gypsy and Notre histoire.