JUNE 2, 2016
Strapped for vacation cash this summer? What if I told you that, for the price of a movie ticket, you could be swept away to a sun-drenched Mediterranean island and mingle with beautiful people who love getting naked and having lots of sex?
Then buy a ticket to “A Bigger Splash.”
An English-language remake of Jacques Deray’s 1969 film “La Piscine,” (you remember that one, don’t you?), “A Bigger Splash” focuses on world-famous androgynous rock star Marianne Lane (Tilda Swinton at her most Bowie-esque), who, unable to speak after undergoing career-saving throat surgery, decides to recuperate with her American photographer boyfriend Paul (Matthias Schoenaerts) on the picturesque Italian island of Pantelleria.
As the couple sun-bathes naked and snuggles in their villa, their serenity is demolished with the unexpected arrival of legendary rock producer Harry Hawkes (Ralph Fiennes), who happens to be Marianne’s ex, and a comely young woman named Penelope (Dakota Johnson), who introduces herself as Harry’s daughter. Hmmn.
Over-caffeinated and oversexed, Harry is a whirlwind of energy, whether splashing in the pool or wildly dancing on a bluff to the Rolling Stones’ “Emotional Rescue.” Whether she’s laughing heartily or boogieing away the night, Marianne has had a spark rekindled with the presence of Harry, a fact that does not go unnoticed by us (or, for that matter, by Paul).
Indeed, Harry and Penelope prompt a sexual roundelay between the two couples. Marianne is clearly charged by Harry, but she refuses to leave him for Paul, whom she loves. For his part, Paul is ready to fight for Marianne, despite Penelope’s efforts to lure him her way. Is Harry, whom Marianne suspects, really sleeping with his daughter? And what’s going on with the intense rivalry between the two guys? I tell you, decadence in the hot Italian sun can be just exhausting.
Italian director Luca Guadagnino has worked with Swinton twice before, including his biggest international success, 2010’s “I Am Love,” which was critically-acclaimed but which I found to be a colossal bore. “A Bigger Splash” is a lot more fun, but Guadagnino works with a slow, almost languid, pace. That pace made “I Am Love” a snoozer for me, but it works better here, as it matches the slow pace of Guadagnino’s characters moving through the heat and humidity of a summer’s day.
However when, at the end of act 2, a truly shocking event occurs that sends the film spinning into another genre entirely, that languid pace doesn’t quite work so well. The events of Act 3 require a certain kind of panicked “What do we do?” quick pace, and the kind of lackadaisical slowness that Guadagnino uses undercuts the material. The film ends on a satisfying note but would have been much more effective if it lost 15 minutes or so near the end.
Still, there are those performances, starting with Ralph Fiennes. From “Schindler’s List” to “The English Patient,” Fiennes has always seemed to me to be an interior actor, not one who uses grand gestures but instead relies a look in the eyes or a tilt of the head to communicate his character’s spirit. That’s what made his huge comic performance in “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” which I still think deserved an Oscar nomination, so surprisingly entertaining and strangely moving as well. Fiennes goes even bigger here — his Harry is a wild man, tearing off his clothes at a moment’s notice and howling at will. I don’t know where Fiennes has been hiding this side of his talent, but I’m glad it’s here.
Swinton can do no wrong as far as I’m concerned, from her elderly grand dame in “Budapest Hotel” to her buck-toothed tyrant in “Snowpiercer,” and she’s is an actress who is always up for a challenge. Known for her expressive voice, the Oscar-winning star reportedly told Guadagnino that she would do the film as long as she didn’t have to speak. What she is able to communicate without verbalizing is remarkable, and Marianne is another memorable addition to Swinton’s collection of indelible characters.
Though not yet a household name in America, Belgian-born Schoenaerts, with his smouldering good looks and considerable acting chops, is a major star in the art-house circuit with a hat trick of top-notch performances in 2015 with “Far From the Madding Crowd,” “A Little Chaos” and “The Danish Girl.” Though usually playing the object of sexual desire, here he’s completely cast against type as the man threatened by a rival’s advances toward his beloved, and this flip in roles seems to have energized Schoenaerts to give one of his best performances to date. And, as usual, he’s just sex on a stick.
Johnson, the only worthwhile element in last year’s “Fifty Shades of Grey,” proves that her work there was no fluke. Her Penelope always keeps you guessing. As she attempts to seduce Paul, we wonder whether it’s genuine or one step towards a larger plan. What gives the performance a little extra resonance with movie fans is that her nymphette character is not unlike those created by her mother Melanie Griffith in such 1970s classics as “Night Moves.” A very nice job.
The first 90 minutes of “A Bigger Splash” is so enjoyable, unafraid to express sexuality in a form that you don’t often see in studio films, that it makes the slog of the last half-hour especially regrettable. Still, there are worse ways to spend two hours than watching movie stars skinny-dip.
GRADE: B
