Directed by Jacques Deray, the film La Piscine is shot in Ramatuelle, in a sumptuous villa in the district of l'Oumède. Chargé d'histoire, the film brings together several anecdotes, starting with this photograph of Alain Delon taken during the filming of the film by the photographer Jean-Marie Périer which will be used for the advertising of the perfume Eau Sauvage by Christian Dior.

The Pool, the most beautiful memory of Alain Delon

Another important anecdote: Romy Schneider was not anticipated for the role of Marianne. In the hollow of the wave at the time, the directors were not favorable, and it was Alain Delon who imposed it, while others suggested Monica Vitti, and American actresses: Angie Dickinson and Nathalie Wood. Romy Schneider will be grateful to him, as the film revives his career. And his participation is also the occasion that the two former lovers find themselves ...

A decade ago, Alain Delon confided that the shooting of La Piscine was one of the most beautiful memories of his life: "My most beautiful memory was the summer of 1968. The house in Saint-Tropez , the light was magnificent ... Romy ... I had the age of Christ, 33 years old, the ideal age for a man. "

Reunion in front of the cameras

During the shooting of La Piscine, we are in August 1968. Alain Delon and Romy Schneider separated five years ago, and this is the first time they have seen each other since. Alain Delon left Romy Schneider through a letter, which broke the actress. The former fiancés who had never married had seen each other again with joy, from the beginning of the adventure of the film. The reunion had been filmed, revealing the incessant smiles of the duo. Alain Delon was waiting for Romy Schneider on the bridge of Nice airport, making their reunion even more moving, since they echoed their first meeting at the foot of an escalator at Orly airport in Paris the day before from the filming of the movie Christine in 1958.

During the filming, the couple of Alain Delon beats the wing. He is married to Nathalie - the mother of Anthony Delon - who wants to leave him, but the actor does not want it. In parallel, he is just acquainted with a young actress, Mireille Darc. Quickly, he proposes to play with her in the movie Jeff, the first film of his production company "Abel productions" founded in 1968. Romy Schneider is forgotten by the directors, and devotes himself to his life as a young mother , with her husband Harry Meyen and her 18-month-old son David. A life that enchants him hardly, for no one calls him, until the help of his former lover.

Many underestimate that Alain Delon wants to revive the flame between him and Romy Schneider, but it is not. Between each break of filming, the German actress joins her family in Berlin, while the actor falls in love with Mireille Darc with whom he remained fifteen years, and which considers like the woman of his life, even after their rupture in 1983.

A strong complicity conducive to a good game

If Jacques Deray agrees to integrate Romy Schneider into the casting, it is because he understands that the past that the former lovers will help to shoot the scenes of couple, especially those torrid moments by the pool. Jacques Deray would have telephoned the actress saying "I want a real couple, a man and a woman who know nothing of each other, who know mutually what they are capable of." Romy Schneider accepts the challenge, knowing well that everyone will have to forget their life as a couple for a time, for the good of the film, which is very physical. A task that does not seem complicated, given that she is cured of this rupture, and happy to return to the camera.

If the duo has found his complicity without great effort, the attraction is no longer the rendezvous, but the knowledge of the bodies is enough to transcribe a beautiful rendering on the screen. Later, Alain Delon confided: "There was no more passion between Romy and I. It was something else, stronger, more powerful, more than words can say." The filming begins with a bare scene, without dialogue, which will become mythical. Romy Schneider confessed: "We started with a hectic session (...) and it looks very exciting." As for Jacques Deray, he is impressed by this obvious complicity ...