HOORAY FOR THE BLUE, WHITE AND RED FRENCH IMPORT LUDIVINE SAGNIER MAKES A NAME FOR HERSELF IN HOLLYWOOD.

Byline: Bob Strauss Film Writer

As Independence Day nears, shouldn't we get over our animosity toward the French? After all, they helped us win the revolution and gave us the Statue of Liberty.

Now they've presented us with Ludivine Sagnier, a talented young actress whom you may have noticed on bikini-centric posters around town for the psychological mystery ``Swimming Pool,'' which opens Wednesday. In la grande tradition, the movie itself features beaucoup Sagnier, who turns 24 one day before our country celebrates its 227th, cavorting sans even those skimpy pieces of material.

But in another admirable French tradition, ``Swimming Pool's'' nudity is crucially woven into its intelligent story about a blocked English mystery writer, Charlotte Rampling's Sarah, whose creative getaway at her publisher's isolated Provence summer home is rudely interrupted by the arrival of his impudent, sexually provocative teenage daughter, Sagnier's Julie.

``It's true that Julie, at first sight, seems very crude and simple in her behavior, very common and not deserving that much interest,'' notes Sagnier, who has been acting professionally since her Paris suburban childhood. ``But as the movie goes on, Julie becomes more and more the target of Sarah's inspiration. Slower and slower, she becomes deeper than we expected, opens herself and her sensibilities up much more.''

``Swimming Pool'' is the first English-language production made by France's hottest young director, 34-year-old Francois Ozon, whose previous work includes Rampling's widely admired comeback vehicle ``Under the Sand'' and two previous films with Sagnier, ``Water Drops on Burning Rocks'' and ``8 Women.''

His new movie is about the strains of the creative process and metaphorically reflects Ozon and Sagnier's own artistic relationship. Each of Ozon's projects forced the actress to go beyond her limits. And that's just the way she likes it.

``The more I work with Francois, the more he demands of me,'' Sagnier notes in pretty good English. ``I'm the kind of actress who really needs to be pushed in order to improve. I like to be challenged, and that's what Francois does. He knows me very well, he knows all my failures, he knows my qualities ... he always gives me energy to fight and say, 'I'm gonna be able to do what he asks me.' It helps me grow; it's as simple as that.''

Ozon confirms, ``This is the third time that I have worked with Ludivine, and once again she surprised me with her ability to take on a character so unlike herself, and still keep her personality intact. That is what we call a wonderful actress.''

Taking shape

Following her turn as the singing-and-dancing, deceptively sweet daddy's girl in the deliriously stylized ``8 Women,'' embodying a psychologically complex character in a naturalistic - if slightly surreal - setting was quite some change.

But the ``embodying'' part proved to be the toughest challenge.

``We had a lot of promotion to do of '8 Women' in France,'' Sagnier explains. ``And every time, we would go to the best restaurants, have champagne, all that. So I put on a lot of weight because of luxury. When Francois offered me the part, I said 'Yeah, OK, but I'm not going to be able to show my body like this, so why don't you buy me a coach.' He said OK.''

The actress reports that her trainer was a nasty one. But that's what it took.

``It doesn't seem really particular for you Americans, because people here usually work on their bodies,'' she notes. ``But for French lazy people like me, it was kind of an obstacle.''

OK, if you say so. But what about all of the gorgeous French actresses who have crossed our screens, apparently thoroughly un-self-conscious about their physical exposure, over many happy decades?

``We have the same misconceptions of Americans, actually,'' Sagnier reveals. ``There are a lot of young American stars who show their body quite a lot more than French people, I think. I see a lot of pictures of Christina Aguilera, for example, and what she does, I wouldn't do it.''

Fair enough. But if that's the case, is she worried about her parents seeing ``Swimming Pool''?

Oh, they already have.

``I wasn't in Paris when the film got released, so I've only heard from my parents on the phone,'' Sagnier says, chuckling. ``They went with friends, said they were so happy. 'It's OK, it's OK. You were great, beautiful. Love, see you, 'bye.' I haven't been home since, so I don't know what to expect. But it's OK, I have my own apartment.''

Forever young

And if worse comes to worst, she could always move to Hollywood. Sagnier will be seen at the end of the year in Universal's big special-effects production of ``Peter Pan,'' in no less a key role than Tinkerbell.

Some entree, that. Well, maybe.

``I fly around on wires,'' she explains. ``I'm shrunk. It was mostly blue screen. I didn't have a chance to play with any of my partners, which was very frustrating. But in a certain way it was very creative because I had to imagine all the world around me. And especially because my part is mute, I had to mime instead of acting. Up to this, my references have been Elizabeth Taylor or Brigitte Bardot or Isabelle Adjani. But for Tinkerbell, it was Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton! It was a thrilling adventure.''

And all of that never-growing-up stuff, Sagnier points out, recalled what made her fall in love with acting in the first place.

``For me, it was like the best summer camp I could find,'' the actress, who as a kid dubbed U.S. television shows and cartoons, says of making movies when she was little. ``It was like a game for me to act, and there were usually other children performing with me. And, also, there were adults who were behaving like children, and that's what I really liked.''

As for her real prospects of a future in Hollywood, Sagnier would like us to like her. But then, she is French, so if that doesn't happen, c'est la vie.

``I don't really know if American people are going to be interested in my work,'' she shrugs blithely. ``I don't know if I'm going to be able to fit into other movies. I just wait for the release of these two movies. Then we'll see.''

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- cover -- color) French dip

Newcomer Ludivine Sagnier heats up the `Swimming Pool'

(2) no caption (Ludivine Sagnier)