Summary
This is the story of Marie, a woman whose dreams always come true. Once, she dreamt
that she would fall in love and would become incredibly rich. Soon after, the first
part of the dream became reality when she met up with Marcel, a penniless singer.
After living together in abject poverty for a time, the couple have a lucky break.
Marcel gets a job as a swimming attendant to the stupendously wealthy Mr Zopoulos.
As the billionaire is wheel-chair bound and has no desire to swim, Marcel is uncertain
what his role is. He quickly discovers that he is the plaything for Zopoulos and
his very peculiar personal secretary, Logan...
Review
Although he is best known as an actor (and one of France’s finest at that), Jean-Louis
Trintignant took a turn as a director in the 1970s and made two films, of which this is
the second. A film which almost defies classification, Le Maître-nageur
is as enjoyable to watch (for its surreal comedy) as it is frustrating. The
first half of the film breezes along with imagination and flair, with jokes and comic
situations falling so fast it is hard to keep up. Then, around the mid-way point
the whole thing starts to slow down and thereafter it just loses its direction, drive
and entertainment value.
Whilst it is an imperfect film, Le Maître-nageur has its charms, particularly
for fans of Jean-Claude Brialy. In a role which looks suspiciously as if it were
written especially for him, the cult actor of the New Wave gets away with what is probably
his most outrageously camp screen appearance. The comedy is generally well
orchestrated, an odd melange of Luis Buñuel and Monty Python. The
setting and direction are clearly influenced by the cult TV series The Prisoner
(the inclusion of the Radetsky March at one point removing any vestige of doubt).
Overall, this is an odd little piece of cinema, easy to fault, but somewhat harder to
dislike.
© James Travers 2003
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