“Sunstroked and sex-soaked, Jacques Deray's French Riviera-set tale of high-stakes hedonism offers many sensuous pleasures.” - Melissa Anderson, 4Columns
“A tour de force of sexual longing and controlled suspense.” - Peter Bradshaw, Guardian
“It's two hours of beautiful people in tantalizing states of undress and unease that might just have you practicing your most chic mysterious chaise longue poses ahead of your next swim party.” - Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times
Sunday, August 17, 5:15 p.m. & Thursday, August 28, 8:30 p.m. | In Jacques Deray’s infamously sultry LA PISCINE, lovers Jean-Paul (Alain Delon) and Marianne (Romy Schneider) lounge poolside at a luxurious villa in the south of France, soaking up the summer sun and taking breaks only to cool down with a swim (or turn up the heat with alfresco lovemaking). When their friend Harry (Maurice Ronet) and his daughter Penelope (Jane Birkin) come to visit, old rivalries return and new attractions spark, and the once placid and pleasurable summer becomes a turbulent and tense reunion. In addition to the scorching sun, Delon and Schneider, once a couple in real life (so beautiful a pair, they were nicknamed “the magnificent lovers”) saturate the film with their white hot, crackling chemistry. By the time LA PISCINE’s desperate third act arrives, no level of SPF can protect the foursome.
Scorchers | August 2–31, 2025
Hot enough for you? Welcome to the dog days of summer, when the temperatures reach their peak and it feels like you could fry an egg on the sidewalk. In Scorchers, we explore 10 films where stifling heat has a starring role. In these cinematic sizzlers, characters fan themselves and wipe their brows—and as the degrees rise, so do the stakes. When we’re stripped down, exhausted, and oppressed by an atmosphere warmer than our body temperature, things are bound to explode.
The Film Center is ADA accessible. This presentation will be projected without open captions. The theater is hearing-loop equipped. For accessibility requests, please email filmcenter@saic.edu