The Swimmer (1968 film)
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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"There's a river of pools all the way to my house."--"The Swimmer" (1964) by John Cheever "The famed John Cheever short story appeared in the New Yorker and people talked. Now there will be talk again. When you sense this man's vibrations and share his colossal hang-up . . . will you see someone you know, or love? When you feel the body-blow power of his broken dreams, will it reach you deep inside, where it hurts? When you talk about "The Swimmer" will you talk about yourself?"[1] |
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The Swimmer is a 1968 film directed by Frank Perry and starring Burt Lancaster. A surreal, allegorical tale, it is based on the short story of the same name by John Cheever, adapted by Eleanor Perry (wife of director Frank). It was made in the US by Columbia Pictures, and filmed largely on location in Westport, Connecticut in the summer of 1966, but not released until 1968.
Sydney Pollack stepped in at the last minute to finish the film after Perry left because of "creative differences".
The film features cameos by Janet Landgard, Kim Hunter, Cornelia Otis Skinner and Joan Rivers, among others.
The music, a mixture of a traditional orchestral score and a more contemporary style, was by Marvin Hamlisch.
Plot
On a glorious summer's day in Connecticut, middle-aged Ned Merrill (Lancaster) decides to swim home across the county via his friends' swimming pools.
At first he receives a warm welcome as he bumps into friends and acquaintances from the past, mostly middle-class, affluent couples enjoying life in luxurious, semi-rural homes. However, as the day wears on, he begins to lose energy, and the reception he receives is not so welcoming. His proud boasting about his wife, his daughters and his home is increasingly met with jeers, suspicion and claims that he is not the good man he thinks he is.
As day turns to night, and summer turns to autumn, Ned staggers home to find an empty, abandoned house and no family.
