La Piscine review

Debauched times by this St Tropez poolside...

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Shades of vintage Chabrol in this digitally restored version of director Jacques Deray’s 1969 psychodrama, set almost entirely in and around the pool of a St Tropez villa.

Holidaying couple Jean-Paul (Alain Delon) and Marianne (Romy Schneider) are unexpectedly visited by one of the latter’s old flames, Harry (Maurice Ronet), and his 18-year-old daughter (Jane Birkin), triggering Jean-Paul’s murderous jealousy.

An intriguing forerunner to François Ozon’s Swimming Pool, it’s languidly paced and elegantly lensed, though its prize asset is Delon/ Schneider’s sexual sizzle.

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