A Bigger Splash (2015)

As the former lover of a recuperating rock star re-enters her life, complications between him, her and her current lover ensue.

The film follows a typical Woody Allen set up, but fails completely in the delivery. With a mute Swinton, totally unbelievable as a Bowie like rock star, and a blabbering Fiennes, the film simply gets on one's nerves. The interpersonal intricacies are one- dimensional and never develop. Also the depiction of local law enforcement as a bunch of bumbling buffoons straight out of some French comedy franchise from the 70s, was especially grating.

1/10

Fmovies: For a film to truly succeed in my eyes, it needs acting to be good, directing to be good and a story to be good. And I gotta say, the directing was great. The acting however bored the hell out of me and there wasn't a story until the last half an hour. Also, what's with all the nudity? I get that they are lustful or just quite eccentric but there is so much nudity from all cast members that you realise there is no story and just nudity from good actors and actresses. For direction, it's great. Everything else is tedious

I'm clearly in the minority here, but I absolutely hated this movie. Every character were annoying and not likable at all. I'm not really sure what the point of the movie was. I kept thinking it would get better the longer I stayed, but it didn't. The only redeemable thing about this movie was the lovely Tilda Swinton, and her beautiful wardrobe. Sadly, with no voice in the movie, she was still the most exciting character to watch.

Dakota Johnson (or her character at least) was just horrible. Tried to come off as young and sexy, but was just boring and dull. I don't really know if she is a talented actress because of the roles she has chosen as of late.

Either way, I do not recommend this movie to anyone!

A Bigger Splash fmovies. This is the second Luca Guadagnino film I've watched, the first being Call Me By Your Name. I've come to the conclusion that Guadagnino is highly pretentious. Watching both of these films I get the impression that when he was making them his thought process was "I'm going to make a cerebral, artsy movie" rather than letting greatness come naturally. I'm a fan of Tilda Swinton, but her performance here was awful. I understand the circumstances before she took on the role, but if she didn't feel up to it, she shouldn't have taken it. Matthias Schoenaerts and Ralph Fiennes are the stars of the movie, and both of their performances are exceptional, especially the former's. Dakota Johnson was just being Dakota Johnson the whole time.

The film had a lot of potential, but it never quite fulfilled that potential. Reading about all the changes that were made to the story make me think that if those changes hadn't been made, it would've been a much better film. Pacing, I think, is an issue for Guadagnino. Certain ideas are introduced but not elaborated on, while others that are not that important or relevant to the story get stretched out. If the running time were cut by 20-30 minutes, it would probably be a better, more efficient telling of the almost non-existent story.

Rock-star Marianne (Tilda Swinton) is recuperating on an Italian island after throat surgery, with her film-maker lover (Mattias Schoenaerts) for company. Then an ex of hers turns up, loud and boozy record-producer Harry (Ralph Fiennes), with his nymphette daughter (Dakota Johnson). Marianne can only speak in whispers, but Harry could - and does - talk for England. The reunion rapidly turns from jolly reminiscence to sullen silences and naked confrontation.

Emphasize the 'naked'. There are a lot of nude swimming scenes. Ralph Fiennes who, with or without his kit on, plays the whole movie in manic overdrive. Matthias and Dakota have lower-key roles and are easier to watch. Despite concert and studio flashbacks I never for a moment believed in Swinton as a rock goddess - she's meant to be a sort of female Bowie. Swinton, like a latter-day Katherine Hepburn, brings energy and a kind of dry mockery to most of her roles: admirable but not always likable.

This is a remake of a 1969 French movie, LA PISCINE, which starred Alain Delon in the Schoenaerts role. There are strong echoes too of the identically titled 2003 Charlotte Rampling picture SWIMMING POOL, which had a similar slow-burning intensity. A BIGGER SPLASH has a cast of attractive people playing unattractive mind-games in a picturesque setting. Clever but boring.

The director's prior "I Am Love" ultimately transcended its more pretentious, arbitrary aspects with a certain feeling of epic emotionality. But this time around there isn't enough substance or originality in other departments to detract attention from how...well, pretentious and arbitrary many of his directorial choices are. To an extent there's interest in simply watching the well-cast stars go through their paces: Fiennes plays one of his most extroverted characters; Swinton has magnetism as usual in a contrasting figure (contrasting because her rock-star has to be silent while recovering from surgery--but a laughable flashback where she sings in a recording studio blows any belief that we're watching a credible musical talent); Schoenaerts is attractive and earnest; Johnson is good playing a petulant brat who uses her sexual allure in obvious (yet successful) ways. If you've ever wanted to see any of these actors full-frontal, here's your big chance, since there's a lot of nudity here that doesn't seem to exist for much reason beyond producing a "Look, s/he's taken it all off, too!" reaction.

But after a while you realize that as colorfully played as these figures are, none of them are drawn with enough depth to be genuinely interesting, and in fact they're largely annoying--to each other, and to us. It's predictable that the 2nd, vaguely incestuous "couple" who make an invasive surprise visit are going to disrupt the idyll and emotional security of the main couple who have hoped to escape just such company. It's predictable that there will be infidelity, and that sooner or later something violent is going to happen. Yet it's very hard to care about any of this.

That the director thinks his actors/characters are endlessly fascinating is obvious--otherwise why on Earth would he stage scenes like the one in which two of them invade a karaoke bar, and though neither of them can sing very well, we're supposed to believe they quickly have half the island populace raptly watching their performance? Judging from "I Am Love" and this, I've got to assume the director himself is a product of jet-setting wealth who automatically assumes the wealthy and privileged are special, fascinating creatures. Yet "Bigger Splash" inadvertently provides the truthful end to that sentence: "...only to each other."

In terms of image and editing, the film is flashy in often pointless, mannered ways that to my mind are neither beautiful or interesting...just show-offy and empty, the flourishes of a director who thinks flamboyant stylistic gestures = a true "artist," without worrying what they actually MEAN, if anything. (He's made a documentary about Bertolucci, and while the latter has certainly made some uneven, mannered work, he comes by instinctively everything that Guadagnino does in an imitative, pretentious way.) Of course, some will be taken in by it, since some people will always fall for Art that labels itself as such.

For all the talent it deploys, though, "Bigger Splash" is ultimately just a particularly pretentious variation on "erotic thriller" material, without much real tension, and certainly without any real substance. It's not terrible, but it's ultimately pretty trivial.

By the way, if you want a laugh, read Luca Guadagnino's Wikipedia bio. It's one of those Wiki entries that sounds like it was written by the subject (and/or