Swimmer (Ramsay, 2012)
‘Swimmer’ is a short film directed by Lynne Ramsay. It follows a young man swimming through the numerous canals and rivers of Britain, encountering many different lifestyles and settings. The film aims to portray different walks of life in the UK, ranging from two lovers in the countryside, to the families in the urban fairground.
Narrative Structure:
Swimmer does not follow a typical narrative structure. It may be able to be considered as a non-linear structure. This is because in the scene of the swimmer being attacked and seemingly left to drown in the depths of a British canal then cuts to a new setting in which the swimmer continues to swim down a new path (and a new canal/river). However, Swimmer could be considered a random set of events due to its lack of structure. This randomness and lack of structure can help keep audiences drawn in and questioning what is happening and what is going to happen to the swimmer. The film doesn’t follow a typical three act structure, but rising actions & resolutions still occur to keep spectators engaged and being active in viewing. Furthermore, the protagonist doesn’t not develop in any way and spectators are left knowing very little about the swimmer (Tom Litten). A possible binary opposition Ramsay incorporates throughout the film could be Man vs Nature, this is due to the swimmer being out of place fighting against the harsh realities of the British countryside.
Cinematography:
The most notable element of Ramsay’s Swimmer is the cinematography. Firstly, the active choice of Ramsay filming in black & white gives the film a vintage ‘old timely’ feel to the production. For a large majority of the films cinematography and shots perfectly capture the aesthetic of the film. Ramsay’s use of extreme long wide-angle shots of nature displays the giant nature of the British countryside compared to the small almost insignificant swimmer who is parting the often-calm water. The film has a slow tempo, which is once again reflected by many long, slow tracking shots. However to keep spectators engaged, Ramsey uses close-up shots during scenes such as the attack on the swimmer. This creates as sudden intense fast tempo to the film that juxtaposed the calm British canals and has spectators heavily engaged. This creates a balance throughout the film. Many shots underwater create an uneasiness in the spectators for the swimmer and after the fast intense attack we see a medium shot of the swimmer slowly sinking as calmness resumes. This shows Ramsay’s genius ability to keep audiences engaged and juxtapose two extremes directly against one another while still being able to make the film flow. There is a wide shot of him floating above water so show the surroundings but then cuts to a close up of the swimmer’s eye. This once again conveys Ramsay’s talents to juxtapose two very different shot types but making it work. Ramsey’s use of slow motion also conveys how she wants to convey the importance of the countryside and so the use of slow motion reflects to spectators that the swimmer is taking his time to embrace the beauty and serenity of the British countryside.
Sound:
Ramsay has an experimental use of sound throughout ‘Swimmer’. The use of deep dramatic drums are used in the opening scenes of the film to help create a tense and unease feeling in spectators. These drums are then joined by echoed screeching of violins creating further unease. Ramsay then juxtaposes this with the calm, soothing sound of the British countryside & lakes, accompanied by an operatic choir, creating a sense of holiness of the river/canal. This continues as he swims past on lookers, including a young couple and a child. When suddenly, the soft, ambient sounds giving a peaceful atmosphere to the film, comes to a halt as a group of children attack the swimmer. The music picks up and becomes tense and gripping to help spectators to react to the scenes they are shown with fear, shock and panic and help spectators view the children as antagonist and stopping them from aligning with them. There is a clear diversity to the music used in this film; there’s moments accompanied with harsh, tense music, and others with calm, tranquil music. The audience are encouraged to react depending on the background music by Ramsay.
Mise-en-Scene:
We know that the forefront of the film is to show off the complexity and diversity of Britain’s canals and rivers, meaning mise-en-scene is a prominent part of displaying Ramsay’s vision. However, presentation of the children in the film is very interesting. One of the children in the film is seen sporting old aviator goggles, which conveys to spectators that the film may be set in a period in the past (further conveyed by the black & white style of the film). Through the child’s clothing, we can assume that the child does not comply with the stereotypical British child. Further children are all represented unconventionally especially those children in the attack scenes, giving us a sense that the children we’re seeing are not the average children we would expect. They are all dressed in American Indian-like clothing, with headdresses and bow and arrows. We are led to believe that they could be inhabitants of the forest, and this is all down to their clothing. The reason they attack the swimmer may be that they do not like an ‘invader’ in their waters.
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