Nick Clement brings us his thoughts on the 2015 movie with his A Bigger Splash review.
A Bigger Splash is one of those films where the primary interest is in exploring mood, atmosphere, and style before anything else.
This is a movie about textures, surfaces, and bodies, and how people give off vibes (positive or negative) just by occupying the same space as others, without having to say much at all.
In fact, the mesmerizing Tilda Swinton turns in a nearly wordless performance as a laryngitis-afflicted rock star that is hiding away with her hunky photographer/filmmaker boyfriend (Matthias Schoenaerts, terrific as always) off the gorgeous coast of Italy, looking to escape the madness of her exhausting profession.
But then, coming on like a gale force hurricane, a rowdy and rather obscene friend from the past (the incredible Ralph Fiennes) shows up looking for a place to crash with his sexy daughter, played by the sensual and alluring Dakota Johnson.
What all goes down is less important from a plot stand point, and more interesting and involving on an aesthetic level.
The script by David Kajganich moves in a mostly expected fashion but remains fully engaging all the same, but I’ll admit that I absolutely didn’t see the darkly funny final scene coming whatsoever.
All of the performances are extra delicious, with Fiennes portraying one of the most obnoxious cinematic creations in recent memory, while Swinton loses herself, yet again, in another transformative performance that takes on a variety of interesting angles due to her uniqueness as a human being; this was clearly her ode to David Bowie.
Schoenarets and Johnson both make for dreamy eye-candy, while it’s interesting to note just how many individual shots linger on exposed flesh; there’s an earthy, sensual quality to the film that feels tangible, with a refreshingly open sense of sexuality.
Director Luca Guadagnino has a tremendous sense of cinematic style, which he’s applied to all of his evocative pieces of work.
This is a picture that’s completely aware of the fact that it’s a “movie-movie,” which allows it some creative freedoms not normally seen when it comes to dramatic storytelling.
I’m also not sure that I’ve seen a movie in recent memory that willfully breaks the 180 degree rule as often as A Bigger Splash does, while it was interesting to note how Guadagnino and his exceptional cinematographer Yorick Le Saux (The Clouds of Sils Maria, Only Lovers Left Alive, Swimming Pool) placed the actors directly in the middle of the frame, often looking straight into the camera, thus providing a sense of heightened artificiality that’s bracing to observe and tonally adventurous.
Guadagnino’s 2009 masterpiece, I Am Love, was another tremendous collaboration with Swinton, and while I preferred that effort to A Bigger Splash, this film feels like a logical extension to previously explored themes of class expectation, as it’s yet another effort with a dreamy and seductive atmosphere that feels as if it’s been painted in vivid brushstrokes.
2017’s glorious Call Me by Your Name continued in this erudite and classy storytelling fashion. Kajganich’s script also revels in black comedy, and the actors are all up the task, playing characters that move to the beat of their own drums, never fully understanding anyone else but themselves, which results in a mildly detached feeling while observing all of the action, all of which carries the potential for violence and suspense.
The film is based on the 1969 movie La Piscine, and derives its title from the famous David Hockney painting from 1967.
A Bigger Splash is available on Blu-Ray, DVD, and various streaming platforms.
A Bigger Splash review by Nick Clement
Our Rating
Summary
Stepping just out of the usual boundaries enough to be unique and interesting A Bigger Splash is an exploration of artistic talent and mood exploration.
