Deep End is no exception; maybe inspired by my new swimming pool trespassing hobby, I've been thinking about movies about swimming lately. Of course, there's the amazing The Swimmer, based on the even more amazing John Cheever story. But that one's a classic.
Of course there's Altman's 3 Women that comes to mind, but that's another classic.
Deep End is more of a recently ressurected gem and that
Jerzy Skolimowski has a relatively unusual career, to say the least; first of all, he's this Polish guy who made his first 5 movies in 3 different languages. Then he took an almost 20 year hiatus and made his comeback with Essential Killing, a thriller starring Vincent Gallo as an escaped terrorist from Afganistan we're supposed to be rooting for.
He also did Le depart, a relatively surreal comedy featuring the French 60s male youth icon Jean-Pierre Leaud and probably the most fun use of a mirror in a movie.
Then he did Deep End, this dark British coming of age drama set in a public swimming pool/bathing house, a weird cross between 3 Women, La ragazza con la valigia, Closely Watched Trains, A Clockwork Orange and The Graduate.
I wouldn't want to give too much away, but basically there's a cute 15 year old who falls head over heels the prettiest young redhead (with the most envy-worthy 70s bangs) and somehow gets sucked into the dirty underbelly of the business because of her.
There's porn, night clubs, sexual favors and tons of hormonal turmoil.
And, of course, the sexiest robes/lab coats (or at least the actors/director make them feel that way), extremely cute 60s and 70s minis, sharp suits...oh and did I mention the colors??
In a way it's the exact opposite of a teen drama (well, unless you consider Larry Clarks's Kids as definitory fo teh genre) and at th same time exactly what the term teen drama should represent (as in a dramatic movie about adolescence, not a stupid flick targeted at adolescents).
Truly unique and worth checking out. Cinephile's honor.
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