The Swimmer (1968): The mask of happiness in suburban America

The short story by John Cheever that this film is based on, with the same name, is one that I once analysed when doing my BA (in English Literature and Film Studies) and it is one that stuck out to me as I really loved and connected with it. Cheever wrote the story when he began his addiction to alcohol in 1964.  He later managed to stay sober after going to a rehabilitation centre and through support from Alcoholics anonymous.

The film starts with the sun shining down on them, Neddy (Burt Lancaster ) remarks ‘What a Glorious day’ and he is greeted like an old friend in the first pool he visits. Neddy has this idea that he will swim home, by swimming in each person’s pool along the way to his house. He dives into the first pool with vigour and others remark what energy he has. By the third pool he is not greeted warmly, and he finds out that an old friend has died. Neddy didn’t see him at all whilst he was sick. This relates to the shallowness of surbaban life. Up to this point, he greets people like he cares about them and they are friends, but really they don’t really care about each other. They all drink to cover up the feeling of emptiness that this faux glamour has given them. They have ‘everything ‘they could ever desire as one character puts it. However, they do not have true emotional connections to the world around him. Like Neddy the world passes by them. Time flies, as they become bitterer and more dependent on alcohol to help their masks of happiness.

The first pool is owned by Donald Westerhazy who claims ‘I drank too much last night... you know I think everybody drank too much last night’. Alcohol is a theme that is carried throughout the movie and many in the film cling to alcohol as if they could not survive without it. Also at the first pool he greets an old friend and they reminisce about their old days at camp:

Stu: We had nice new transparent lungs in those days!
Neddy: And the water. That transparent light green water. It felt different. God what a beautiful feeling! We could have swum round the world in those days.

Stu: That was before we ever touched a drink or a cigarette

Neddy is someone who doesn’t acknowledge the time passing around him, yet he is nostalgic of the past, where he has an idealised version of those transparent waters, and an idealised version of himself.  He says later, ‘Nothing’s turned out the way I thought it would. When I was a kid I used to believe in things. People seemed to love each other when I was a kid. People used to love each other. What happened?’ The weather, that starts with that ‘glorious’ day, is another motif, as the weather gets worse, and gradually we notice the seasons are changing, and time is passing much quicker than Ned realises.

The more he swims the more worn, tired, cold and distraught he gets. He is however, obsessed by the idea of swimming home, and cannot stop. The swimmer could be a stand in for Cheever himself, slowly becoming more desperate to cling to life but becoming dragged down by his addiction to alcohol. Ned pleads with people he meets to come with him. He is desperate for a meaningful connection but he gets rejected and left by each of them, each time this happened he looks more haggard, which speaks to Burt Lancaster’s abilities as an actor.

The film has the same beautiful lyrical quality of the short story and has an incredible performance by Burt Lancaster who carries every hope and disappointment with grace at the centre of a very sad but resonant story.