The Swimming Pool

"The most dangerous love-game ever played"

1969 2h 3m FR

👍

7.0

SOLID

★7.0TMDB · 582

DramaThriller

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Set in a magnificent villa near a sun-drenched St. Tropez, lovers Jean-Paul and Marianne are spending a happy, lazy summer holiday. Their only concern is to gratify their mutual passion - until the day when Marianne invites her former lover and his beautiful teenage daughter to spend a few days with them. From the first moment, a certain uneasiness and tension begin to develop between the four, which soon escalates in a dangerous love-game.

“The most dangerous love-game ever played”

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Cast

Alain Delon
Jean-Paul
Romy Schneider
Marianne
Maurice Ronet
Harry
Jane Birkin
Penelope
Paul Crauchet
L'inspecteur Lévêque
Suzie Jaspard
Emilie
Maddly Bamy
La mulâtre
Thierry Chabert
Un ami

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Jacques Deray
Writers: Alain Page, Jean-Claude Carrière, Jacques Deray
Languages: English, French
Countries: France, Italy

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

57 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, French.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: France, Italy.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Directed by Jacques Deray, shot by Jean-Jacques Tarbès. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Michel Legrand. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Paul Cayatte shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Alain Delon and Romy Schneider and Maurice Ronet carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "The most dangerous love-game ever played".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Jacques Deray directs. Jean-Jacques Tarbès behind the camera. Michel Legrand scores. Paul Cayatte cuts. Produced in France, Italy. Dialogue in English, French.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

157 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
2Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, French.
3International production across 2 countries: France, Italy.
4Directed by Jacques Deray, shot by Jean-Jacques Tarbès. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Michel Legrand. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Paul Cayatte shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Alain Delon and Romy Schneider and Maurice Ronet carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "The most dangerous love-game ever played".
9IMDB entry: tt0064816 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Released under 15 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Jean-Jacques Tarbès
Original score: Michel Legrand
Editing: Paul Cayatte
Production design: Paul Laffargue
Costume design: André Courrèges
Makeup / hair: Fernande Hugi
Runtime: 123 min · 2h 3m
Status: Released
Original language: FR
Certification (US): PG
IMDB: The Swimming Pool (1969)

Also by

Jacques Deray

Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2025-09-25
★ 7/10
Now if I was on holiday with my partner enjoying the sunshine, the swimming pool and plenty of sex, I don’t think I’d be very impressed at the arrival of their ex-lover and his teenage daughter. Even more inexplicably, it seems that “Marianne” (Romy Schneider) has actually invited “Harry” (Maurice Ronet) and “Pénélope” (Jane Birkin) to share the villa with the perplexed “Jean-Paul” (Alain Delon). It might be revenge or it might just be lust, but fairly swiftly the nose-out-of-joint “Jean-Paul” is becoming fond of the daughter whilst her father rather openly reminisces about and flirts with “Marianne”. With the sun shining and the booze flowing freely, tensions start to rises as the green eyed monster rears it’s ugly head in an increasingly toxic fashion. It’s a story about the fickleness of human relationships, about the shallowness of beauty and the temporary nature of “love”, and all four here exemplify the evils of temptation compellingly. The writing delivers quite a sparing, but potent, dialogue that conveys the crescendoing emotions enjoyably whilst the photography captures a lot of the beauty of their piscine and their glistening bodies. The tail-end reminded me a little of JB Priestley’s “An Inspector Calls” as detective “Lévêque” (Paul Crauchet) tries to fathom the unfathomable. This is one of those films that glows, and it has a classiness to it.

Production companies