Bardlerx
Strictly average movie
SpecialsTarget
Disturbing yet enthralling
Peereddi
I was totally surprised at how great this film.You could feel your paranoia rise as the film went on and as you gradually learned the details of the real situation.
Helloturia
I have absolutely never seen anything like this movie before. You have to see this movie.
Milo Milosovic
I've been putting off review The Deep Blue Sea. Terrence Davies' remake of the 1950′s film based on the stage-play is a curious piece which I'm still struggling to get my head around.It's a strangely polarising beast which split me between annoyance and er enjoyance Here's the deal. On the one hand. It's a self-consciously old-fashioned portrayal of love and life in 1950′s London. Rachel Weiss plays Hester trapped in a flat and dull marriage she finds physical and emotional release in the arms of Freddie (played by Tom Hiddleston) a magnetic yet damaged WW2 pilot who is struggling to adjust to post-war life. The story is stylistic lavish with intimate set-pieces, evocative lighting and a mood of emotional frustration. What's not is as important as what is not said. There's evocations of Brief Encounter and Powell & Pressburger. An impressive meditation on love in all its forms and the damage it can cause.On the other hand. It's an out-dated throw-back from a director who is stuck in time with a Britain that never really existed. Pampered hoity-toity, plummy-types (Hester? Freddie? Oh, 'k off!) moping and whining while the salt of the earth "Cor Blimey" types are just busy getting by. Posh types mope. Look out of windows. Smoke. Mope a bit more. Look out of more windows. Have a bit of a row. Cry. Look out of even more windows. Gah! Hester treats her husband like rubbish. Freddie treats Hester like rubbish. Hester treats herself like rubbish. It's so mannered and drenched in stylistic devices and cinematic tropes that they become at best distracting, at worst like a cinema school project with a budget.So where does that leave us? Nostalgic meditation on love? Or stylised bore-fest of posh-types gagging for it? To be honest I'm still stuck between a rock and a hard place. Between, the devil and the . hmmm hang-on . it's suddenly occurred to me that maybe that's the point. Christ, I think I need to watch something stupid to clear my brain.
craig-hopton
This movie starts brilliantly. Director Terence Davies creates a scene centred around a suicide attempt that is quite beautiful and frightening. It really gets the movie going and gets you interested in the story.Rachael Weisz puts in an accomplished performance as the female protagonist at the centre of a love triangle. She is exceptional throughout and well supported by Simon Russell Beale and Tom Hiddleston.So why didn't I like this movie more? Well, I think the answer lies in the fact that this movie is based on a play, and it shows. The scenes are long, heavy on dialogue, and not much is done with the screenplay to add something extra.I think this would be wonderful to see in a crowded theatre where the dramatic tension could build up with the audience in close proximity to the actors. But on a small screen, it just doesn't work as well. Eventually, it becomes boring. And the oddest thing about it is why, after the fantastic opening, Davies doesn't make more use of cinematic techniques to turn this into a "movie." He obviously had the ability, so why didn't he use it? A shame.
l_rawjalaurence
On paper this version of Rattigan's classic looked to have the right ingredients - a visually brilliant director and a top-notch cast. However it turns out to be a disappointment. This is chiefly due to a lack of sympathy with the characters: we do not really understand why Hester Collyer (Rachel Weisz) should feel as she does, while Tom Hiddleston as Freddie Page is badly miscast. He seems to be under the impression that shouting will reveal the character's inadequacies. Simon Russell Beale is quite good as Hester's husband, but even he doesn't really have much to do. The film also represents an uneasy mix of Davies' and Rattigan's concerns; there are new musical sequences inserted (for example, a scene in a local pub, and a flashback to wartime London) which have strong echoes of Davies' earlier work (THE LONG DAY CLOSES comes to mind), but which deflect attention away from Rattigan's character-driven piece. Weisz does what she can with the material, but in the end we do not really care what happens to her.
pc95
Directed by Terence Davies, "The Deep Blue Sea" never quite grabbed me during it's runtime. In fact, I fell asleep during a few scenes and had to re-watch. It's not really a bad movie per say, but it feels too plodding and pedestrian. Non of the actors performances were bad, especially Rachel Weisz, but the texturing and fuzziness of the memory sequences were distracting. Director Davies has put together a movie that in facts feels much more like theatre or a play. (spoilers) Certainly best about it, is the frictional break-up and awkwardness of saying good-bye which helps with the conclusion, but there's something artificial and sort of stuffy along the way.