Domestic Film: The Swimmer
Frank and Eleanor Perry’s masterful adaptation of The Swimmer, the acclaimed short story by John Cheever, features Burt Lancaster as a man who confronts his destiny by swimming home, pool by pool, through the suburban nightmare of upper-class society. One critic wrote: “The movement of the film is from morning to dusk, from sunshine to rain, from youth to age, and from fantasy to truth.” (1968, with closed captioning, 95 minutes.)