The Deep Blue Sea

Cecil says: Why?

Why was this film called The Deep Blue Sea?

Why have such slow-moving scenes that we spend up to 20 seconds watching a briefcase being shut? Or a pair of leather shoes being handed over from one person to the other, with no soundtrack except the faint creaking of the polished leather?

You kind of sense that Terence Davies must have had some deep, significant message to get across to us through this film. But buggered if I know what it was...

On the face of it, this was a lovely Friday night out: bit of romance (classic love triangle with the lovely Rachel Weisz - Hester - opposite Tom Hiddleston - Freddie, the RAF ace - and Simon Russell Beale - William, the ageing judge); a period piece (set in post-war England); and some good-old hearty singing throughout (ah, haven't pubs changed these days?).

But with an opening scene that has Weisz's voiceover reading out her own suicide note, you kind of sense that this might not be a joyfest; and two minutes in I leant over to Bea to comment on the slow pace. The funny thing is that the preview just prior to the film was of the new Sherlock Holmes movie, which looked more like a Harry Potter set with an old storyline, ie fast-paced, all-action and special effects.

Davies's story plods. And I couldn't help thinking all the way through that his dialogue didn't have enough of the cutting nastiness of Harold Pinter characters that make his films cope with silence so well.

That's not to say that the story didn't appeal to me and challenge me. These relationship dilemma plots are always thought-provoking, and Rachel Weisz is always a pleasure to watch, but no, I must make a commitment to myself: never go to see another Terence Davies film (remember Of Time and the City in 2008???), unless you really have nothing better to do, or you don't mind a glum ending to an evening out.

No, it wasn't that bad. But I can't give it more than **.5

Bea says:
This was a beautiful film to watch (the sets, the clothes, the hair), but like Cecil I found it rather slow for a Friday night - it might have better suited a languid Sunday afternoon perhaps... As it was, I was tired from a busy working week, and had just had a bowl of pasta at the Italian opposite, so had to wriggle and stretch to stay awake.

The story should have been more interesting, but it rather felt that too much was left out (why had Hester married the judge, who she did not love? Or did she love him once? Why was she so convinced that Freddie did not love her in the all-consuming way she loved him - they burnt up the screen whenever on it together. Had she tried suicide before?) Perhaps this was deliberate, to leave us wondering and having to fill in the gaps ourselves, but there was certainly time to flesh the characters out a bit.

Talking about the film this morning, Cecil and I both commented on how beautiful the war/postwar period looked in this film - the scene in Aldwych station for example during a bombing raid. Rather than overcrowding, stink and rats (which is what I imagine it was probably really like), there were candles, children nestled in bedding, and on the remarkably uncrowded platform, tables, bunting, and the lovely singing of a young man (Molly Malone - no accident I am sure as the chorus refrain is "Alive, alive-oh"). Similarly the supposedly austere flat of Freddie.

Lovely to look at, so if you go to see it savour its beauty, but have a good cup of coffee beforehand.
**1/2