After making waves at the Sydney Film Festival, Ian Darling’s The Pool will be released this November. The film presents Bondi Icebergs as we know them and as we have never seen them. Darling offers a portrait of an icon of Sydney’s most famous beach and the community that surrounds it, one that is both intimate and far-reaching.
We are treated to long, smooth shots of sparkling water in sunshine, the bright turquoise of the pool and surrounding churning waves, and the slow grace of the swimmers moving through the water.
The Pool lulls you into a dream-like world with its beauty of composition, the long drone shots, the fury and destructive power of the storms, and the soft lights on the shore as the first swimmers arrive on a bracing winter morning. Yet here and again, the film changes tack, and we also see the swimmers’ activity and brightness, the flurry of movement down the pool, and the organised chaos of the Sunday races.
Yet it is through the people, the community of the Bondi Icebergs Swimming Club, that we reach the heart of the film. The club has been going for almost a hundred years, bringing people together from many and varied backgrounds over their shared love of swimming. As the film says, we are all equal when we have our swimmers on.
The Pool has a beautiful and otherworldly quality. From the very first frame, we dive into a hushed world of light, water, and colour. We see dark silhouettes stretching before a Bondi sunrise, drops of water gilded by sunlight that slowly explode against a brilliant blue sky. Yet these images would have remained almost disconnected without seeing the love and dedication of the people through the stories shared.
For screenings, please check venue and session times here:- https://www.madman.com.au/the-pool/#session-times-panel
This review also appears on It’s On The House. Check out more reviews at Whats The Show to see what else is on in your town.
