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The bright sun of the French Riviera is deceptive in this alluring work of slow-burn suspense from thriller specialist Jacques Deray and legendary screenwriter Jean-Claude Carrière. Formerly one of European cinema’s most iconic real-life couples, Alain Delon and Romy Schneider reunited for this film, bringing a palpable erotic chemistry to their performances as the bronzed and beautiful vacationers whose summer holiday on the Côte d’Azur is interrupted by the arrival of an old acquaintance (Maurice Ronet) and his eighteen-year-old daughter (Jane Birkin)—unleashing a gathering wave of sexual tension, jealousy, and sudden violence. A paragon of 1960s modernist cool thanks to effortlessly chic clothes and a loungy Michel Legrand score, La piscine dives deep to reveal sinister undercurrents roiling beneath its seductive surfaces.
There was a shot for shot reshoot made with the actors speaking english dialogue which can be found here.
NOTE: The Criterion release is more detailed but looks like someone drank a jar of piss and vomited over the screen, so I chose the Park Circus. I did some denoising as I felt the grain was poorly rendered and detracted from the beautiful visuals.
Code:
STARS...........: Alain Delon, Romy Schneider, Jane Birkin, Maurice Ronet
DIRECTOR........: Jacques Deray
WRITERS.........: Jean-Claude Carrière, Jacques Deray
GENRE...........: Crime, Drama, Romance
IMDB............: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0064816
RUNTIME.........: 2h 3mn
SIZE............: 6.00 GB
VIDEO CODEC.....: HEVC ( [email protected])
BITRATE.........: 6700 Kbps (CRF)
RESOLUTION......: 1764x1080
ASPECT RATIO....: 1.66:1
FRAMERATE.......: 23.976 fps
AUDIO...........: French FLAC 1.0
SUBTITLES.......: ENG
SOURCE..........: Park Circus Blu-ray, Criterion Extras
ENCODE DATE.....: 2021-08-05
Criterion Extras
• Fifty Years Later - This recent documentary takes a closer look at the production history of La Piscine. It features interviews with Alain Delon, Jane Birkin, screenwriter Jean-Claude Carrierre, and novelist Jean-Emmanuel Conil, amongst others. The documentary was produced by Agnes Vincent-Deray, widow of director Jacques Deray in 2019.
• Undressing a Legacy - In this new video interview, scholar Nick Rees-Roberts discusses La Piscine and its influence on fashion. The interview was conducted in 2021.
• 68-69: Delon, Schneider & Co. - A collection of archival production and promotional footage with Alain Delon, Romy Schneider, Jane Birkin, Maurice Ronet, and Jacques Deray.
• Alternative Ending - An alternate ending added to the Spanish release of the film.
• Trailers - Two vintage trailers, English and French.
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| Jean-Paul (Alain Delon) is an out-of-work writer having an affair with Marianne (Romy Schneider), a successful journalist. As they frolic in a swimming pool in St. Tropez, she receives as call from the record executive Harry (Maurice Ronet). He arrives with his nubile young daughter (Jane Birkin). Harry and Marianne were once lovers and he makes a pass at her. Meanwhile, Jean-Paul makes a pass at Harry's daughter. After some drinking, Harry and Jean-Paul fight, resulting in Harry being pushed into the pool. Jean-Paul refuses to help the struggling man as he drowns, and the young couple tries to get their stories straight in order to avoid being charged with murder in this sometimes masochistic feature from France.
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