Screening at The Film Society of Lincoln Center and Unifrance's annual series Rendez-vous with French Cinema, Friday, March 3, 4:00 pm and Thursday, March 9, 2:00 pm (Walter Reade Theater, New York City)
The last film of Icelandic director Sólveig Anspach is a light-hearted romantic comedy with just the right mixture of whimsy and wit.
Samir (Samir Guesmi) is a crane operator who first sees Agathe (Florence Loiret Caille) in a café and falls head over heels in love with her. When he discovers that she is a lifeguard and teaches swimming at a nearby pool, he purchases a Speedo swimsuit and signs up for lessons from her.
After he rebuffs the sexual advances of another woman at the pool, Samir is able to fulfill his erotic fantasies as he and Agathe move together in the water. In one exercise she holds him as he floats with one of her hands on his back and the other on his chest. It is a poetic dance that confirms his alluring attraction to her.
During these enchanting scenes, we recalled John Updike's story "Lifeguard" where the writer links loving someone who, like a lifeguard, can rescue us. Updike also makes a connection between swimming and life:
"We enter the sea with shock: Our skin and blood shout in protest. But, that instant, that leap, past, what do we find? Ecstasy and buoyancy. Swimming offers a parable. We struggle and thrash and drown; we succumb, even in despair, and float, and are saved."
Eventually, Agathe surrenders to Samir's advances but he blows it by saving a girl who falls in the pool — proving that he knew how to swim all along and was lying to Agathe. However, he stays committed to seeking a love relationship with her by following her to Iceland where she is attending a pool lifeguard convention. There he creatively tries to win back her attention and affection.
Those who are delighted by Icelandic films will want to sample two other efforts by Sólveig Anspach. The Together Project is her third in a trilogy following Back Soon and Queen of Montreuil.