Burt Lancaster in The Swimmer (1968)
Burt Lancaster in The Swimmer (1968)
The Swimmer (1968)

The Melbourne Cinémathèque & ACMI present

The Swimmer

Frank Perry | United States | 1968 | M
Film

This event has ended and tickets are no longer available.

When

Wed 10 May 2023

Although not well received on release, this adaptation of a 1964 short story by John Cheever has gone on to become a cult favourite as well as provide a fascinating portrait of cultural and personal malaise in the well-heeled suburbia of late 1960s America. Lancaster fearlessly incarnates a subtly delusional middle-aged man swimming home via a 'river' of backyard swimming pools. As he encounters an array of couples, families, gatherings and former acquaintances, it becomes evident that things are not quite what they seem. With Janice Rule, Kim Hunter and Joan Rivers.

Format: DCP
Language: English
Source: Park Circus
Runtime: 95 mins

Event duration

95 mins

Rating

M

Where

Cinema 1, Level 2
ACMI, Fed Square

How to get there

Membership options

Mini membership
(3 consecutive weeks)
$28.5–$33.5

Annual memberships
$161–300

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Also screening on Wed 10 May

About the program

Burt Lancaster (1913–94) didn’t appear in his first film until he was in her early thirties. Prior to his breakthrough role alongside Ava Gardner in The Killers (1946), he had a highly successful career as a circus acrobat and as an entertainer in the Special Forces during World War II...

Read the full program notes
Burt Lancaster in The Crimson Pirate among the rigging

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About Melbourne Cinémathèque

Australia's longest-running film society, Melbourne Cinémathèque screens significant works of international cinema in the medium they were created, the way they would have originally screened.

Melbourne Cinémathèque is self-administered, volunteer-run, not-for-profit and membership-driven. 

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Melbourne Cinémathèque - Dirk Bogarde in a still from Victim