VHS : The Swimmer [1968]

Rating: - Only Lancaster could be the swimmer
Almost any film Burt Lancaster is in usually gets my attention & The Swimmer is no exception, in fact I think it was one of his more complicated roles, one which was tailor made for Burt. Hard to believe Burt was 55, My God he had the body of an athletic 33 old, great shape almost as good as his acting ability. From what I read he actually could not swim prior to doing this film & never liked getting into the water!
I have watched tis film many times now & each time I see another glimpse of the brilliance that was & is Burt Lancaster. A tormented & lost soul is seen in this most unique of films , where Ned Merrill suffers the illusion of "normality & a secure Family Life" only those around him know better, what attracts me to Lancaster as an actor is his complete ability to portray almost all characteristics of human life, be it the He Man though guy to the idiot fool ie, The rose tattoo, Sad & embittered The Bird Man of Alcatraz, Ruthless & cruel in The sweet smell of success, or Delusional & self Denial in THE SWIMMER. Burt really was a genius on screen & his likes will never be seen again. On a funnier side the wardrobe deportment did not have a problem with Burt's cloths, has to be the only film where the Principal Actor wore so little.
In the Swimmer he draws you into his own small world where for him despite the obvious he is a happily married man with a wife & daughter awaits him, we also see a very shallow side where he is willing to pledge his "love" to any Female who will believe his ramblings " the sad thing is Ned Merrill also believes them also"
Yes The Swimmer is an all round winner for me the only surprise is that when released it was more or less a flop, perhaps not enough RAMBO action in it, Anyhow lets be greatful to DVD's this period in Film making .No doubts I will watch this film many more times

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Rating: - Beautiful and profoundly moving
This is a journey (via the swimming pools of an affluent New England suburb) to the heart of the darkness of the American Dream. Ned Merrill is a "very special human being - noble and splendid." There is more than a touch of the Shakespearean tragedy about this wonderful film and Merrill, played brilliantly by Burt Lancaster is a flawed and tragic hero. I love Lancaster in everything anyway, but he is often overlooked as a great screen star, despite his sophisticated, more mature performances in this and The Leopard. It becomes clear shortly in to the film that Merrill is at a point of crisis in his life and probably teetering on the verge of suicide, though infused with a love of life and an eerie calmness, reminiscent of the protagonist in J D Salinger's "A perfect day for Bananafish". His advertising business is bankrupt, he is disgraced and disowned by his friends, his marriage is finished and it is clear that he has been unfaithful to his wife. This is a 90 minute classic about the human condition, an attack on the stultifying rules of affluent American bourgeois society, human cruelty and indifference to suffering and the poverty of people's souls in the midst of their material wealth. It may also be a cautionary tale about how you should follow your heart and not give up on your dreams. At one point, Ned Merrill meets an under confident little boy on his swimming odyssey. The boy says he could never make captain of the football team; "but you're the captain of your soul son and that's what counts". Beautiful and profoundly moving. I watched this alone and it brought me to tears. Not many films do that.

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Rating: - How anyone can lose the plot ...
This is a psychological 'day in the life' drama of a man not on the edge of a nervous breakdown - but, instead, in the denial stage after a nervous breakdown. You can't help but feel sorry for 'the swimmer' as deep down in all of us is a need to be socially accepted by our peer group despite the blows which life may inflict upon us.

I first saw this in my childhood and the closing scene stuck in my mind for a very long time.

Great perfomance by Burt Lancaster.

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Rating: - "If you make-believe hard enough that something is true, then it is true - for you"
This 1968 film directed by Frank Perry and starring Burt Lancaster (who was 55 when the film was released and was in astonishingly good shape for his age) is based on a brilliant short story by John Cheever, which first appeared in the New Yorker in July 1964.

'The Swimmer' brims with hidden depths. On the surface, it seems to be about Ned Merrill, a bronzed and athletic playboy who has set himself the goal of swimming home through a snake-like series of garden pools in rich suburban Connecticut. But as the film moves on, we get glimpses of a tragic undercurrent which culminates in the sad final scene. The nearer he gets to home, the colder he gets, the chillier his neighbours act towards him, the more he drinks (in the last house, he drinks a straight gin on the rocks) and the more he limps; when talking of his two daughters, he portrays them as getting younger and younger as he swims from pool to pool. Yet this psychological complexity is subtle and only suggested; the 'intention' of the film remains opaque. Could it be a morality tale about the American dream - that if you neglect family and human values in the pursuit of social status, wealth and success, you might well end up alienated from and rejected by those nearest to you? Could it be a symbolic odyssey, an allegory for his psychological journey - his denial and fervent estrangement from reality pushing him into a painful psychosis? Or is it a case of the 1960s counter culture stripping the masculinity and magnetism off the playboy to reveal a shallow, dark core?

Whatever the case, this is a great film and is surprisingly sad. Its only drawbacks are the occasionally hammy acting (seemingly characteristic of films of the late 1960s), and the rather crude symbolism at the end. But all in all, this is well worth seeing - for the scent of grandiose dreams, failed masculinity, and the terrible price that can be paid for denial.

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Rating: - Superb and disturbing
Burt Lancaster gives one of his greatest ever performances in 'The Swimmer'. The plot is simple, Ned (Lancaster) decides to swim his way home via the swimming pools of his wealthy friends and neighbours. As his journey progresses it becomes apparent that all is not what it seems. Only at the very end of this film did I begin to understand the subtle hints that the other characters had been giving at all along. The ending is arguably one of the finest in film history. It was totally unexpected and unless you have read the book or a detailed film synopsis it will probably be so for you.

I would concede that this film will not be to everybodies taste. Some may consider it pretentious, and perhaps just plain dull, so if you can rent it first or watch it on TV before buying it would probably be wise to do so.