Swimmer

Seen as part of the London 2012 Festival programme of four short films, together with Max and Dania's What If?, Asif Kapadia's The Odyssey and Mike Leigh's A Running Jump.

Marvel as a swimmer's arm breaks the water, sending out a cascade of shiny droplets. Watch the reed-beds drift by in artful black and white. Hear fragments from British films of years long gone by. Lynne's Ramsay's film is one of those shorts which just isn't short enough. With no discernible narrative and far too much lingering on the play of light on water, The Swimmer is a reminder that however dull going for a swim at your local pool may be, sometimes doing lengths can still be a more interesting way to spend time than being sat in a cinema.

If this had been a 5 minute loop in a room at the Tate Modern, the visuals would have been enough to justify its existence. Stretched to a half hour film, the best I can say is it offers an opportunity to snooze in between the other three far more interesting films it's showing with.

Though this film by Ramsay is undeniably Ramsay in stylistically. It is conservative in places, perhaps this is attributed to the fact that the film is a branded film for London Olympics. Though, this takes nothing away from its meditative, visceral trance-like tone. The sound is extraordinary, perfectly timed and lifting the film characteristically. It is beautifully composed and shot. It is merit to the director that she was able to conceive a film which is utterly her own whilst offering a conservative commercial audience a palatable cinema.

The level of artistry and poetry "Swimmer" carries is a feast for the eyes. The short presents the lonely swimmer (Tom Litten) enountering many different people while swimming down a river. At each move in the water and the nature he overhears a couple chatting, some kids playing (who latter on attack him with spears while he's underwater) and many more; and there's a moment when his thoughts about his challengeable task echoes a great classic film by Tony Richardson with a memorable line from "The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner".

An amazing black-and-white cinematography and the haunting musical score that goes from a lovely and sweet jazz piece to a haunting thrilling music when the night comes and the swimmer is attacked make it for an interesting collage of ideas and beautiful moments. There isn't much of a story or transformation to make company to those, but "Swimmer" manages to hypnotize its viewers with such collage while we follow the good sportsman, his body connecting with the river at each move. I was impressed by its sheer poetry, visuals and music. A very intriguing short that can work as a nice little moment in the life of a man with some touches of mystery and suspense. We're definitely curious to see what's gonna happen next with the swimmer. It's up to us viewers to fill in the blanks and imagine what goes through the man's head while he's enjoying nature or surviving unimaginable scenarios. We are his company on the ride. 9/10.

Quite near the end, there is a monochrome sequence as Tom Litten swims across a loch, or a lake, with the sun setting behind him whilst Vaughan Williams's "...Thomas Tallis" is playing that is simply gorgeous to look at. Indeed, much of this is an attractive watch as this young man swims the waterways of the UK observing and being observed by people, their pets, their children and the wildlife. The photography shows us the litheness of the swimmer as he effortlessly glides through the water as well as also displaying the beauty of the scenery. That's not a sterile sensation; this scenery is alive and buzzing and vibrant and this almost entirely unscripted film just lets us relax and let it wash over us. The final scene is peaceful, but also quite perplexing... Definitely worth ten minutes.

Lynne Ramsay does a great job here of taking the subject of swimming and making it interesting, something that could have been boring and monotonous in the wrong hands. The visuals and cinematography are on form and the black and white works well.

6/10