Sponsored by Samphire Sauna for our Swim, surf and Sail season + Annie's Staff Pick
The Swimmer
Surreal allegorical film about a man's journey across a string of backyard pools that reaches all the way across the valley to his own house. Some pool owners welcome him, some don't!
Director: Frank Perry
Cast includes: Burt Lancaster, Janet Landgard, Joan Rivers
Screening sponsored by Samphire Sauna, for our Swim, Surf and Sail Season
94 mins / 1968 / USA
Frank Perry’s The Swimmer feels like the kind of intense hallucination you might experience after too long in the sun; by the time the credits roll, you’re never sure if it actually happened. Adapted by Eleanor Perry from a strangely beautiful eleven-page novella by John Cheever and directed by Perry’s husband Frank, The Swimmer retains the plot economy and intensity of its concise source material, making up for the gaps in detail with things Cheever couldn’t give his readers in even a thousand pages: zany, sun-drunk cinematography, a swooning theatrical score, and character embodiment by the likes of Burt Lancaster and Joan Rivers (in her film debut).
A prescient take on the American Dream – one that touches on masculinity and mental health – it deserves critical attention as the better-remembered movies of its period and closes our Swim, Surf and Sail season where we bring you films that revel in the visual and visceral spectacle of water and swimming on the big screen.
Swim, surf and sail season
As part of our September Swim, surf and sail season, this screening is proudly sponsored by Samphire Sauna, local beachside partners and supporter of the Electric Palace.
“We’re delighted to be supporting the much loved Electric Palace for their season of swimming films, it feels like a fantastic fit for us,” says the Samphire Sauna team.
Samphire Sauna is a sustainable, Nordic-inspired sauna which allows you to relax and benefit from the healing properties of heat and cold-water therapy, whilst overlooking the beautiful Hastings coastline. Located on the iconic Hastings pier, Samphire Sauna is the go-to place for wild-swimmers, surfers and sailors after a day in the sea.
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