The MoFo Top 100 of the 60s: Countdown

47. The Swimmer (1968)

"When you talk about 'The Swimmer', will you talk about yourself?"



Every MoFo who knows me, knew that this film was going to appear somewhere on my list. When I first discovered this film, I was enchanted by its premise. I was actually almost certain that it would not be able to live up to my expectations. Surprisingly, it even exceeded them. I nominated it for the 3rd MoFo Hall of Fame for that reason and I'm glad that the response to it was mainly positive.

The Swimmer lets us experience a metaphorical journey through the life of a middle aged 'upper class' guy (played by Burt Lancaster). It's summer and we see him jogging through a forest and reach the house of some people that he seems to know. He notices that pools are spanning the valley and he decides to go from pool to pool and to take a swim in all of them. He starts on top of the hill and slowly descends into the valley, which is filled with nice villas, big pools and also - we are told - the ultimate destination, his own home. His interactions with the environment and the people he meets, slowly reveal the man's life story... Because of the original and interesting premise, I immediately found myself being captivated with this film. I, myself, grew up and still live in the kind of social environment that this film is tackling and therefore the tale was very relatable for me.



As the film develops, it becomes sort of an allegorical reliving of the main character's past experiences. Slowly, he's becoming aware of the personal mistakes and misjudgements he has made, because he had let himself become absorbed by the conceited, egotistical and materialistic shallowness that so many people become a prey of when they start realizing that they are (finally) part of the social elite. When people think they ARE living the (American) dream, that dream can very quickly turn into a disastrous nightmare, especially when you blindly give in to its immoral and self-destructive temptations. Our main character starts realizing that, but is it too late?

I will not say too much about the film's conclusion, but let's just say that it worked extremely well for me. My heart was bouncing. I was totally into it. The film is probably not telling something particularly new (although it did reach some new refreshing depths and meanings for me personally), but the original storytelling and the way it slowly builds up to an inevitable climax is simply magnificent. The film very much succeeded in delivering an emotionally and intellectually profound meditation about the human condition and a firm moral message that is particularly (but not exclusively) directed to those people who are facing the three top parts of Maslow's pyramid: "social needs", "esteem needs" and "self-actualization". When you're not (morally) cautious enough, you might fall down the pyramid much faster than you deem possible...


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Wow Cob. I figured you were who had it #2. You have a bunch of 60's movies in you top 50 or is that just how the list shook out?