I just watched this brilliant movie from the 60’s last night. Burt Lancaster swimming through a series of pools in America, beign a catalyst for the people he meets to expose cracks in their relationships, whilst we piece together fragments of his own tragic life. He is a device through which we learn what the film maker wants to talk about – this is the theme of most of my talks at the moment. A glorious film, that is heartbreaking and surreal and unapologetically allegorical. A very brave film and a raw performance from Lancaster in nothing more than a pair of shorts. Watching it I thought it would actually make a rather good stage piece, enjoying the artifice of the story but being very moving.
Animator, Director, Writer