A Bigger Splash (B+) Movie Review
A Bigger Splash stars Tilda Swinton as international rock-star Marianne Lane, on vocal rest and vacationing on a Mediterranean island with her documentary filmmaker boyfriend Paul, played by Matthias Schoenaerts. In their secluded vacation home, the couple are free to walk in the nude and have sex wherever they like. But this romantic getaway is upended by the appearance of Marianne's ex-boyfriend Harry, played by Ralph Fiennes, and his daughter Penelope, played by Dakota Johnson.
A Bigger Splash is the perfect summer film for the specialty box office, brewing marvelously complex characters and plunking them onto a salty, sun-soaked Mediterranean island. Each character's desires and hidden motivations eventually bubble up to the surface as all of them take turns diving into the glittering swimming pool at the center of the film.
Luca Guadagnino's film is rife with symbolism, the pool being the most prominent. It's a melting pot, a place in which all of our characters' desires go to manifest themselves as well as serving as the location that draws all of them together for most of the film. The pool acts as a conduit for our ensemble to express their masked sexual desires. Sexuality, and the concept of sexual desire, is a large part of the film. Penelope falls in love "with every pretty thing," Harry may or may not have sexual feelings for his daughter but he certainly has conflicted sexual feelings towards Marianne, and even Marianne and Paul's seemingly healthy sexual relationship becomes complicated when Harry and Penelope enter the picture. A Bigger Splash, while not about anything too weighty, is entirely European in its depiction of sex, which is refreshing. It's not gratuitous, nor is it even very explicit, but it is honest and romantic.
It's true that the film doesn't have much on its mind. Guadagnino seemingly strives to create a fascinating character study of four completely different individuals and while not particularly illuminating any sharp truth about life or even sexuality, the character dynamics presented on screen are intriguing. A Bigger Splash is perfectly serviceable as a beautifully crafted and absolutely cinematic melodrama, which is rare.
It's quite impossible to ignore the outstanding performances that help the film to achieve the qualitative success it does. Matthias Schoenaerts portrays the inner conflict of Paul in an especially nuanced way, feeding the audience hints that Paul may not be so happy that Harry has unexpectedly arrived, though Marianne couldn't be more pleased. Dakota Johnson delivers one of her best performances as Penelope, the complicated daughter of music producer Harry. She appears detached and narcissistic, though utterly mysterious and seductive. Her relationship with her father is vague and the motivations for her actions are even vaguer. Tilda Swinton gives a near wordless performance, forcing her to rely solely on facial expressions and body language. Her performance is layered and brilliant, as you might have guessed. And Ralph Fiennes. Ralph Fiennes is having such a blast on screen that when he's acting, it's nearly impossible to watch anyone but him.
But even some of the success can be owed to auteur Luca Guadagnino. Guadagnino has a keen eye for all things pertaining to the senses. The peeling of fruit in this film is inspired and you probably won't understand what that even means until you watch A Bigger Splash. It's a visually lush, color-soaked, sun-drenched, gorgeous film and Guadagnino excellently establishes a sense of place. There's one sequence that I can't quite shake in which Paul and Penelope hike through a barren, rocky terrain to find a secluded beach. You can almost feel the tensions between the two simmering as the pair are shot from afar, walking silently, underneath a setting sun with a woodwind score of flutes accompanying them. It feels like something out of Robert Altman's mood masterpiece 3 Women. With that being said, Guadagnino incorporates many stylistic devices - a couple of which don't work. One that stands out to me is the dizzying camera movement employed mainly in the first half of the film. I couldn't tell you its purpose and it felt unnecessarily disorienting.
Still, A Bigger Splash is a success. The film is ultimately a tale of lavish lifestyles and dangerous seduction, nothing less and probably nothing more. Even if it is rather thematically simplistic, it's a beautifully orchestrated melodrama - one in which tensions simmer underneath the Mediterranean sun and compelling characters interact in compelling ways.
FINAL GRADE: B+
MPAA RATING: R for graphic nudity, some strong sexual content, language and brief drug use
A Bigger Splash is the perfect summer film for the specialty box office, brewing marvelously complex characters and plunking them onto a salty, sun-soaked Mediterranean island. Each character's desires and hidden motivations eventually bubble up to the surface as all of them take turns diving into the glittering swimming pool at the center of the film.
Luca Guadagnino's film is rife with symbolism, the pool being the most prominent. It's a melting pot, a place in which all of our characters' desires go to manifest themselves as well as serving as the location that draws all of them together for most of the film. The pool acts as a conduit for our ensemble to express their masked sexual desires. Sexuality, and the concept of sexual desire, is a large part of the film. Penelope falls in love "with every pretty thing," Harry may or may not have sexual feelings for his daughter but he certainly has conflicted sexual feelings towards Marianne, and even Marianne and Paul's seemingly healthy sexual relationship becomes complicated when Harry and Penelope enter the picture. A Bigger Splash, while not about anything too weighty, is entirely European in its depiction of sex, which is refreshing. It's not gratuitous, nor is it even very explicit, but it is honest and romantic.
It's true that the film doesn't have much on its mind. Guadagnino seemingly strives to create a fascinating character study of four completely different individuals and while not particularly illuminating any sharp truth about life or even sexuality, the character dynamics presented on screen are intriguing. A Bigger Splash is perfectly serviceable as a beautifully crafted and absolutely cinematic melodrama, which is rare.
It's quite impossible to ignore the outstanding performances that help the film to achieve the qualitative success it does. Matthias Schoenaerts portrays the inner conflict of Paul in an especially nuanced way, feeding the audience hints that Paul may not be so happy that Harry has unexpectedly arrived, though Marianne couldn't be more pleased. Dakota Johnson delivers one of her best performances as Penelope, the complicated daughter of music producer Harry. She appears detached and narcissistic, though utterly mysterious and seductive. Her relationship with her father is vague and the motivations for her actions are even vaguer. Tilda Swinton gives a near wordless performance, forcing her to rely solely on facial expressions and body language. Her performance is layered and brilliant, as you might have guessed. And Ralph Fiennes. Ralph Fiennes is having such a blast on screen that when he's acting, it's nearly impossible to watch anyone but him.
But even some of the success can be owed to auteur Luca Guadagnino. Guadagnino has a keen eye for all things pertaining to the senses. The peeling of fruit in this film is inspired and you probably won't understand what that even means until you watch A Bigger Splash. It's a visually lush, color-soaked, sun-drenched, gorgeous film and Guadagnino excellently establishes a sense of place. There's one sequence that I can't quite shake in which Paul and Penelope hike through a barren, rocky terrain to find a secluded beach. You can almost feel the tensions between the two simmering as the pair are shot from afar, walking silently, underneath a setting sun with a woodwind score of flutes accompanying them. It feels like something out of Robert Altman's mood masterpiece 3 Women. With that being said, Guadagnino incorporates many stylistic devices - a couple of which don't work. One that stands out to me is the dizzying camera movement employed mainly in the first half of the film. I couldn't tell you its purpose and it felt unnecessarily disorienting.
Still, A Bigger Splash is a success. The film is ultimately a tale of lavish lifestyles and dangerous seduction, nothing less and probably nothing more. Even if it is rather thematically simplistic, it's a beautifully orchestrated melodrama - one in which tensions simmer underneath the Mediterranean sun and compelling characters interact in compelling ways.
FINAL GRADE: B+
MPAA RATING: R for graphic nudity, some strong sexual content, language and brief drug use