PKazee Review of The Swimmer

The Swimmer (1968)

A metaphor for life. We fail to see how quickly it passes.. and how completely we decline.

[8/10 · 6 April 2014]

This is an unusual film that follows Neddy (the very fit Burt Lancaster, 53 years old at the time of filming), as he decides to swim (and hike) from one friends private luxury pool located at one end of a large well-to-do county, to his own home at the other end of the county, via a series of widely spread apart pools belonging – mostly - to socialite friends. On it's surface, it can appear to be the story of a man who has lost his money and social position, yet has little or no memory of this loss. What it is actually about, I believe, is the rapid passage of our adult lives. Even in our middle-ages, we start out feeling young, healthy and full of both friends and confidence, yet – far faster than we are able to recognize – we lose one thing after another, usually due to our own poor choices, finally ending up cold, exhausted and alone. This is partially signaled in the film by the ever-faster change of both the seasons and weather, but also in the change in people's attitudes toward Neddy, most dramatically, in the lightening fast change of heart Julie (Janet Landgard) exhibits toward him. To Neddy, she is in one moment infatuated with him, and in the next repulsed, but I contend - in reality - a fair amount of time has passed from the beginning of their stroll together (when she seemed barely more than a child), until the end of their journey, by which point she appears to be a somewhat more mature, experienced woman with an apartment and job in the city. Along his own path in life, Neddy has cheated on his wife, taken fromfriends without giving back, unthinkingly distanced himself from other friends for long periods of time, and deliberately turned his back on childhood friends as he climbed social ladders that they could not. And – seemingly (to him, anyway), in the mere blink of an eye - he realizes that he has lost everything... his wife, his lover, the respect of his children, and every single scrap of his status. He has not only become unwelcome at the pools of his former friends, but has become so "dirty" that he is not even welcome at the public pool, where even the attendants snub and insult him.