‘A Bigger Splash‘ (2015) is a remake of a film (‘La Piscine’ – directed by Jacques Deray based on a novel by Alain Page) that is remembered today mainly because of the presence on the screen of the couple Alain Delon – Romy Schneider. Since then, a few more films have been added to the ‘swimming pool drama’ genre. The version created by the Italian director Luca Guadagnino is different in that it does not completely isolate the sentimental conflicts of the characters and the blue waters of the pool from the world around. We are in the years when the crisis of migrants making their way across the Mediterranean was at its peak. The Italian island where the story is set is in the middle of this tumult, which will also influence, despite them, the destinies of the characters.
Marianne is a famous rock singer who is recovering from a throat surgery that may damage her vocal cords, due to which doctors have advised her not to use her voice for a while. Together with Paul, her boyfriend, a documentary films director, they chose the villa on this island to isolate themselves from the world. Their plan is upended when Harry, a hysterical extroverted music producer, shows up, accompanied by his young beauty daughter Penelope. Harry is Paul’s best friend and Marianne’s ex-lover. He seems uncaring and morally corrupt, willing to drag everyone else around him into his self-centered machinations. The attempt to renew the connection with Marianne is at first met with a refusal, but the man insists. Meanwhile, some kind of relationship seems to be forming between Paul and Penelope. But something will happen and the erotic drama is in danger of sliding towards tragedy.
The screenplay is a bit unbalanced, in the sense that more than half of the film we witness the far too thorough and too patient construction of a drama that unfolds too late. With less than half the time available, the second part, which had become interesting, seems to be headed for an ending that some found problematic (not me). The cast is stellar. Tilda Swinton has a very interesting role precisely because she is limited in her ability to speak. A professional of voice, both in the story in the film and as an actress, she is obliged to use solely the expressiveness of her figure and body and succeeds in creating a memorable role. Ralph Fiennes thickens Harry’s features a bit, but in the end his character is credible and interacts well with his partners. Matthias Schoenaerts is a bit too low-key as Paul. Maybe it was the directorial indications, but my feeling was that the character played by him is not fully revealed. Rounding out the cast is Dakota Johnson as Penelope. She also leaves some open questions about her character, but here the mystery is clearly intentional and belongs in the script. I also liked the cinematography created by Yorick Le Saux – spectacular, but without stepping into the realm of tourist ads. On the contrary, the camera manages to capture glimpses of the real world, indifferent to the conflicts that take place in the villas of the rich and too busy with the real dramas to care about the possible dramas that take place in or around the swimming pools.