The last few weeks I go swimming every Sunday. I complete a pyramid of lengths 2,4,6,4,2. For reasons beyond my control I could not swim this Sunday but I had bought The Swimmer (Frank Perry, 1968) for €5 at Movie Magic's closing down sale and thought the time was right to watch it. I had the impression that the story was just about a wealthy businessman Ned (Burt Lancaster) and his swim home through his neighbour's swimming pools on a Summer day. I was pleasantly surprised - the film is beautiful and heartbreaking at the same time. I thought Ned just climbed over picket fences on his journey home but he actually goes through woodlands, has a race with a horse, meets people, crosses a busy highway, acts strange and gets cold.

Some of the score and some scenes contain that certain sixties cheesy charm however the film holds its own. The scene when Ned meet his mistress at her pool is quite powerful and unsettling. This was actually directed by Sydney Pollack - Perry left the production due to creative differences.

The film was deliberately shot with out-of-focus photography, supposedly in tune with Ned's disoriented state of mind. An approach quite popular in the late sixties - but an approach that still has an impact on me and my work today.