MovieChat Forums > The Swimmer (1968) Discussion > Who says... SPOILERS

Who says... SPOILERS

posted 15 years ago by mercury4
11 replies | jump to latest

Who says the whole thing was in his mind? I say yes. I think everyone he came across on his journey wasn't really there. I think it was all in his mind. Little by little, he was picturing all the people that he wronged and all the things that led to his life going down the drain. I think he was trying to tell himself what was happening and in his state he imagined everyone. I think Ned Merrill was a sick man. I especially believe that the whole scene with Julie was fantasy and in his mind.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

I disagree.

[–] Owlwise (1535) 4 years ago

Oh, it's happening for real. But it's told in a somewhat stylized manner to emphasize his downward inner journey.

[–] einstein (2568) 4 years ago

pretty sure if it was all in his mind, especially the scene with julie would have a happy ending

[–] liscarkat (18541) 4 years ago

It's clear that it's not all in his mind, especially if you have also read the story.

[–] [deleted] 3 years ago

I think it is really happening.

[–] Adam60z (3774) 3 years ago

It was a 1960s mid-life crisis film. There were delusions in his mind, but not what we saw on film; maybe how HE saw it.

[–] liscarkat (18541) a year ago

It was a combination of reality and dementia.

[–] elmacho (983) a year ago

Just watched and I believe that it could go either way. The viewer can decide. I thought it was all in his mind as each stop he makes the people there know more and more about his problems. The first house they make no mention of his family issues and they appeared to be his closest friends (if any of them could be called that) so they would/should no the most about him. This movie reminded my of Jacob's Ladder as his mind slowly unraveled.

[–] Owlwise (1535) 8 months ago

Films from that period were more comfortable with allegorical/symbolic storytelling, as were audiences. I wouldn't say it's all in his mind so much as we're perceiving his state of mind reflected in what's actually happening to him.

[–] elmacho (983) 8 months ago

that is an interesting view as well.

[–] Owlwise (1535) 8 months ago

I won't insist that it's The Right View, either. Just my own feeling about it, as I was a teenager when the film came out & I first saw it. So, being shaped by that time & its favored forms of storytelling, that's where my first thoughts naturally go. In fact, I don't see why every view expressed in this discussion can't be equally true. A thoughtful, artistic film can have multiple valid interpretations, after all.