DVD REVIEWS A 'POOL' FILLED WITH INTRIGUE.

Byline: Rob Lowman Entertainment Editor

When staid mystery novelist Sarah Morton says early on in Francois Ozon's ``Swimming Pool,'' ``I'm not who you think I am,'' it's a signal to start looking closely at her character.

Feeling burned out and ignored by her editor, who takes her continuing best-selling detective formula for granted, Sarah (a marvelous Charlotte Rampling) seeks change. When her editor John Bosload (played by Charles Dance) offers his vacation house in the south of France - with vague promises of joining her - she jumps at the chance. The trip does wonders at first, getting Sarah's creative juices flowing, but the quietude of the lovely rural home is soon interrupted by the surprise arrival of Julie (Ludivine Sagnier), John's illegitimate daughter from an affair with a local woman.

Though Julie attempts to be pleasant, the two soon clash - Sarah's disciplined writing schedule is at odds with Julie's wild life of drinking and sleeping with a different man every night. During the days, Julie swims in the pool, which Sarah had left covered, and lies around - often nude. The contrast of the buttoned-up English spinster and the sensual French nymph eventually gives way to a rapprochement.

It's there that Ozon cleverly moves from atmospheric tension into the world of a thriller, with sexual rivalry, odd portents and - as you might expect - murder. The sly mystery works on more levels than the standard whodunits Sarah produces, and viewers are bound to discuss the meaning of the twist at the end.

``Swimming Pool'' is essentially a two-women show - and Ozon couldn't have chosen better. Rampling is an actress of great subtlety, while Sagnier - currently Tinkerbell in ``Peter Pan'' - has the pout and beguiling openness of a teenager with the wiles and sexual instincts of an adult.

``Swimming Pool'' (Universal; $26.98 for the R-rated or unrated version) includes interviews with Rampling and Sagnier, outtakes, poster and picture galleries.

David still a comedy Goliath

After more than four years, Larry David's ``Curb Your Enthusiasm'' has either become your curmudgeonly but lovable uncle or just plain annoying. (A rich guy making an ass out of himself doesn't elicit much sympathy, though it may be funny and dead on.) The first season, which is out on DVD today, was a lot of fun and very funny, though.

David, who co-created ``Seinfeld,'' was the basis for Jason Alexander's character, George. What made that show funny was that you could absolutely count on the characters to sink to their most selfish instincts in every situation. On ``CYE,'' David gets to take those instincts even further (thanks to it being on cable's HBO) as he plays a fictional version of himself - a successful comedy writer who co-created ``Seinfeld'' with a biting, not very likable, self-involved personality. Like Garry Shandling's ``The Larry Sanders Show,'' real celebs such as Richard Lewis are mixed in with fictional characters, which gives ``CYE'' a surreal quality. Its humor and format may seem odd to some, but they are also what makes ``CYE'' one of the TV's all-time best comedy shows. Unlike the vast majority of sitcoms, you don't see all the jokes coming.

``Curb Your Enthusiasm - The Complete First Season'' (HBO; $39.98 for the two-disc set) includes all 10 episodes, commentary by Larry David and others, the HBO comedy special ``Larry David: Curb Your Enthusiasm'' and an interview with David by Bob Costas.

Intelligent intelligence

Season one of the BBC's ``MI-5'' (which aired on A&E last year) is all the things you wish you'd see from American television - tough-minded, with unpredictable characters and plots - and like John le Carre's novels, a disquieting look into the murky world of spies.

Even if you don't pick up on this in the first episode of the six-show series, you will by the second, when a sympathetic main character - someone you thought was a regular - is gruesomely and suddenly killed off. (Even the whack jobs of characters in ``The Sopranos'' are usually discussed first.) So you know no one is safe.

Starring Matthew MacFadyen as Tom Quinn - team leader of a counterterrorism squad in Britain - ``MI-5'' offers a high-tech look into the world of spying while at the same time uncovers the characters' personal lives and loves. It becomes an interesting contrast - as smooth as these spies are, they are often tripped up by the human factor, whether in their personal lives or in trying to prevent a terrorist bombing.

``MI-5, Volume I'' (BBC; $49.98). The six-disc set includes all six episodes, cast and crew commentaries, featurettes on the cast and crew, and deleted scenes.

Rob Lowman, [phone]

robert.lowman(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1) CHARLOTTE RAMPLING, left, and LUDIVINE SAGNIER in ``Swimming Pool''

(2) MATTHEW MacFADYEN in ``MI-5''