https://www.youtube.com/embed/akAvbD8uc8g
"A whirlwind of jealousy, passion, and, ultimately, danger" is a solid recipe for any movie. If you add Tilda Swinton and Ralph Fiennes to that mix you get something really special. A Bigger Splash is a the second pairing up of Swinton and director Luca Guadagnino, who first worked together on 2010's I Am Love. This time around Swinton is a rock star on holiday in the Mediterranean with her sexy filmmaker boyfriend (played by Matthias Schoenaerts), and their vacay is about to get disrupted by her old flame (Fiennes) and his young, hot daughter (Dakota Johnson). Naturally, the sexual tension between these Dionysian nymphs is palpable, but what starts as a good old-fashioned weekend of indiscretions among the wealthy turns into something that looks like a murderous thriller, with caution tape being strung up and Swinton’s character screaming in desperation. And can we just take this moment to beg for the freedom of Dakota Johnson from her literal and figurative Fifty Shades of Grey chains? This girl is a strong, developing talent and we need more of her in movies like this and Black Mass, not on the business end of Christian Grey's whipping belt.
But we digress. A Bigger Splash is a remake of the French film Las Piscine from 1969, but we won't disclose details here about the plot of the original, lest you be spoiled for the new one. But Guadagnino and Swinton are a beautiful team, which means in addition to the strong reviews it opened to at the Venice Film Festival, it should also be a sumptuous watch. And if nothing else, it’s more Swinton to hold you over until she shows up as The Ancient One in Doctor Strange, which is what the advent calendar hanging in each of our homes is building up to.
Pause at: 0:20. Loving this attitude. These shots at 0:39 and 0:52—yes. Ralph Fiennes getting all of it at 0:58. Trouble in paradise at 1:07 and 1:13.
Essential Quote: "We're all obscene. Everyone's obscene. That's the whole point."—Harry (Fiennes)
