Terence Davies is making a return to film after an eleven year hiatus, but The Deep Blue Sea fails to ignite much except an urge to visit the theatre...
Its fair to say that Terence Davies, director of Distant
Voices, Still Lives and The Long Day Closes, has always had one foot placed firmly in the past. A great and much loved filmmaker he may be, but the average cinema-goer would be hard pressed to name any of his work. He’s less than prolific, with The Deep Blue Sea his first feature film in 11 years, but this is, without question, a Terence Davies film.
Set in post-war Britain, the film focuses on Hester (Rachel Weisz) and her negotiations of the heart. We open with a suicide attempt, within an almost silent montage depicting her meeting of lover Freddie (Tom Hiddleston), the ex-fighter pilot she will eventually leave her lawyer husband (Simon Russell Beale) for. The attempt fails, and Hester must now deal with the anxieties and choices that have led her to this point.
The Deep Blue Sea is as depressing and downbeat as that premise sounds, but is saved by a magnetic performance from its leading lady, and great supporting parts that not only give weight to Hester’s predicament, but offer alternative points of view for the audience to consider. Hiddleston, seen last as Loki in Thor and next in Spielberg’s War Horse, is a revelation in the role of the charming and hedonistic Freddie, bringing life and humanity to a largely unsympathetic character.
Based on Terence Ratiggan’s 1952 play, the film never manages to lose that stage-y feeling, a mood not helped by the three lead’s capabilities in the theatre. Taking place in only a few locations, predominantly staged in Hester and Freddie’s dingy and claustrophobic apartment, it’s easy to imagine Weisz, Hiddleston and Beale performing to a live audience, and The Deep Blue Sea never manages to feel like a film in its own right. Some of the performances, though excellent at times, also possess the theatrical qualities that will always feel out of place on screen.
A film about dissatisfied people in disappointing situations was never going to be a laugh riot, but the pain of each member of the ‘love triangle’ is relentlessly offered to the audience in a way that can be irritating, and Hester’s problems soon start to lose their sway. As a portrait of the period’s renegotiations of class and identity, it could be an interesting watch, but these nuggets of social commentary are glossed over in favour of scenes where Hester, frankly, prattles on about how Freddie doesn’t like her as much as she does him.
But, disregarding these problems, it’s Weisz’s film through and through. The actress is getting a lot of praise for her performance, and it is her that the film will be remembered for, not what it has to say about romantic plotlines or theatrical adaptation. But, underneath the cloud of cigarette smoke, this is a film about the love and resentment between three very different people, and we’re offered no reasoning or resolution to accompany it. We don’t understand Hester’s motivations for leaving her loving husband and privileged life behind, nor are we encouraged to form any sort of theory.
Although The Deep Blue Sea will no doubt find a home with Terence Davies devotees and period-drama nuts, it has little to offer the casual film fan. If anything, it may very well prompt you to visit the theatre more often, but not the cinema. The Deep Blue Sea is a wonderful play, but never quite a movie.
Voices, Still Lives and The Long Day Closes, has always had one foot placed firmly in the past. A great and much loved filmmaker he may be, but the average cinema-goer would be hard pressed to name any of his work. He’s less than prolific, with The Deep Blue Sea his first feature film in 11 years, but this is, without question, a Terence Davies film.
Set in post-war Britain, the film focuses on Hester (Rachel Weisz) and her negotiations of the heart. We open with a suicide attempt, within an almost silent montage depicting her meeting of lover Freddie (Tom Hiddleston), the ex-fighter pilot she will eventually leave her lawyer husband (Simon Russell Beale) for. The attempt fails, and Hester must now deal with the anxieties and choices that have led her to this point.
The Deep Blue Sea is as depressing and downbeat as that premise sounds, but is saved by a magnetic performance from its leading lady, and great supporting parts that not only give weight to Hester’s predicament, but offer alternative points of view for the audience to consider. Hiddleston, seen last as Loki in Thor and next in Spielberg’s War Horse, is a revelation in the role of the charming and hedonistic Freddie, bringing life and humanity to a largely unsympathetic character.
Based on Terence Ratiggan’s 1952 play, the film never manages to lose that stage-y feeling, a mood not helped by the three lead’s capabilities in the theatre. Taking place in only a few locations, predominantly staged in Hester and Freddie’s dingy and claustrophobic apartment, it’s easy to imagine Weisz, Hiddleston and Beale performing to a live audience, and The Deep Blue Sea never manages to feel like a film in its own right. Some of the performances, though excellent at times, also possess the theatrical qualities that will always feel out of place on screen.
A film about dissatisfied people in disappointing situations was never going to be a laugh riot, but the pain of each member of the ‘love triangle’ is relentlessly offered to the audience in a way that can be irritating, and Hester’s problems soon start to lose their sway. As a portrait of the period’s renegotiations of class and identity, it could be an interesting watch, but these nuggets of social commentary are glossed over in favour of scenes where Hester, frankly, prattles on about how Freddie doesn’t like her as much as she does him.
But, disregarding these problems, it’s Weisz’s film through and through. The actress is getting a lot of praise for her performance, and it is her that the film will be remembered for, not what it has to say about romantic plotlines or theatrical adaptation. But, underneath the cloud of cigarette smoke, this is a film about the love and resentment between three very different people, and we’re offered no reasoning or resolution to accompany it. We don’t understand Hester’s motivations for leaving her loving husband and privileged life behind, nor are we encouraged to form any sort of theory.
Although The Deep Blue Sea will no doubt find a home with Terence Davies devotees and period-drama nuts, it has little to offer the casual film fan. If anything, it may very well prompt you to visit the theatre more often, but not the cinema. The Deep Blue Sea is a wonderful play, but never quite a movie.
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