La piscine – Luc Larriba

Hardcover, 208 pages

Language: French

Author: Luc Larriba, with an introduction by Alain Delon

Published by Huginn & Muninn, 2022

EDITOR’S NOTE

Finally, a book about Jacques Deray’s film La Piscine and its making. I have come to realise that this has become, in time, one of my favourite movies (my article The searing style of Jacques Deray’s La Piscine, accompanied by a a commentary by film poster designer Michael Boland, who did the beautifully intense, subtly disquieting cover art for the restored Criterion edition of the film, was dedicated to it). Because it’s a special piece of cinema – a film about human contact, silences, glances, where we see “all the nuances of regret, jealousy, friendship, and desire, and where the atmosphere is crucial” – and because Alain Delon and Romy Schneider are together on screen.

Luc Larriba’s book “La Piscine” is a beautiful tribute to the film. With an emotional introduction by none other than Alain Delon, comments from everyone who worked on the film, from Jacques Deray and his co-writers Jean Claude-Carriere and Alain Page, the cast (Romy, Alain, Maurice Robert and Jane Birkin, and the supporting cast), and the assistant director, the covering of every aspect of pre-production and filming, the search for the perfect couple, the screenwriting, the location, music, costumes and settings (and even the cars used in the film, both the Renault 8 Gordini, a symbol of the era, and the Maserati Ghibli, object of desire, symbol of freedom, element of jealousy), the critical and public reception of the film, and even the endless attempts of a remake until The Bigger Splash, and the most beautiful photographs, from the film and from the set, the book has become part of the visual identity of the film and of the film’s legacy. But, most importantly, it speaks to you, the viewer, about how the film got to be made, how it was made, what the atmosphere on the set was, who the characters were. And about what the lives of the actors were at that particular time – and the most wonderful part is that we don’t invade their privacy to find that out, they candidly tell us themselves. You are on the set, you are right then and there. It is a tangible and timeless special feature.

Official synopsis in French:

Romy Schneider en maillot Courrèges, Alain Delon chemise ouverte, mais aussi Maurice Ronet et Jane Birkin, tous offerts au soleil de l’été, au bord d’une piscine turquoise… En 1969, dès sa sortie, le voluptueux thriller de Jacques Deray est décrit par la presse comme a immédiatement physique”. Célébrant les retrouvailles de deux acteurs iconiques, il est aujourd’hui considéré comme l’un des films cultes du cinéma mondial. Dans cet ouvrage, les coulisses de La Piscine se dévoilent comme dans un album, illustré de photographies de tournage, certaines jamais vues encore. Le journaliste et critique Luc Larriba y retrace l’aventure de ce polar sulfureux à la beauté magnétique, et nous donne à comprendre pourquoi il fascine toujours autant. Avec un avant-propos d’Alain Delon.