Deep End

Jerzy Skolimowski - 1970
We have perfectly pleasant, if not a very interesting camera. Without jumping on us we move back and forth, or both are in one deepish image, quite close. All against the grubby backdrops, or should that be backdrop, with sets here being in the economy category quantatively and qualitatively. We have outbursts of violent red and yellows to, postmarked, wonder what that could mean...
All right, the script is a paper not a cinematic one, the acting is (deliberately?) stilted, but there is a good tone here, half or three quater truths. Pathetic little looks, going back for the hot dogs, mumbled conversations, things being not quite succesful, little games.
I mean, the philsophy here is though what I have no time for. Very Polanski-esque pessimism of the violence, the uncertain male-feamle relationship based on economics, domination, violence, no way out, that's the way it is. We've already made the distinction between Bunuel/Lang strikinng pessimism and just a kind of nastiness. I wouldn't want to go overboard with this on this film, it's not entirely untender, but ultimately it falls down. The final violence is remarkably telegraphed in the, again, Polanski tradition, and there you go. Once again, some nice bits, and really good tone, with problems.