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The Swimmer

Directed by Frank Perry

United States • 1968 • 95 mins.

Showtimes & Past Screenings

Based on the famous John Cheever story of the same name, The Swimmer interrogates the American Dream, illuminating the ways that an upper-middle-class lifestyle can look wonderful on the surface while existing on a very unstable foundation. Burt Lancaster unforgettably portrays All-American man-child Ned Merrill, a seemingly successful businessman living in suburban Connecticut. Ned appears one day wandering through the woods in a swimsuit and finds himself in the backyard of some friends, where he subsequently traverses the periphery of his neighborhood and his life.

Genres: Drama

The Northwest Film Center recognizes and honors the Indigenous peoples of this region on whose ancestral lands the museum now stands. These include the Willamette Tumwater, Clackamas, Kathlemet, Molalla, Multnomah and Watlala Chinook Peoples and the Tualatin Kalapuya who today are part of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, and many other Native communities who made their homes along the Columbia River. We also want to recognize that Portland today is a community of many diverse Native peoples who continue to live and work here. We respectfully acknowledge and honor all Indigenous communities—past, present, future—and are grateful for their ongoing and vibrant presence.