Wednesday, May 4, 2016

A Bigger Splash Review: A Fantasy Turned Nightmare [Contributor: Rae Nudson]

Good things can’t last, even for rock stars. A Bigger Splash (opening today) takes place in the space between when peace and quiet starts to crack and when things come crashing down. Marianne and her partner Paul are hiding out on an island retreat away from her rockstar life of stadiums full of screaming fans. There, Marianne recovers from surgery on her vocal cords. Marianne is resting her voice, but just because she and Paul aren’t speaking doesn’t mean they aren’t connecting: their bodies are doing all the communicating they need. But when an old friend and his daughter drop in on their vacation, the quiet retreat is replaced with a few days of making love, making trouble, and making mistakes.

Marianne, played brilliantly (of course) by Tilda Swinton, isn’t the only one not speaking. So much of this movie is about the words left unsaid between family and friends, and the divide that grows between people who once filled that space with love. A Bigger Splash is a remake of the 1969 La Piscine, but A Bigger Splash feels more complex and sensitive than the original could hope to be.

Ralph Fiennes plays the ineffable Harry, the interrupter of vacations and (probably) the lives of everyone he comes in contact with. Fiennes’ charm helps sell a man who could be insufferable if played by the wrong person, and when Harry dances, it’s joyful and crazy and magnetic all at once. Harry, a music producer, knows everyone everywhere he goes, or is quick to make friends if he doesn’t. It’s not hard to see how Marianne, Harry’s ex, became addicted to him — as she was once addicted to so many other substances that make you feel good before they slowly drain your life.

Harry’s daughter shares his malleability, though she is more guarded and mysterious. Dakota Johnson will be one of the greats, and she does a great job here as Penelope. There are layers to her performance that become more complex the longer I sit with it, and it’s not hard to see why people are attracted to this wounded, beautiful girl. I have to admit I am wary of the story of wounded, beautiful girls who draw the attention of older men who should know better, but Penelope’s character — and Johnson’s performance — add an extra layer of heartbreak and complexity to a story that blurs lines and ignores limits. (As Marianne tells Paul, Harry doesn’t believe in limits.)

When the unlikely foursome shares their home and a few days’ vacation, they also share a part of their lives that overlap in ways they’ll never be able to untangle. As their vacation shifts from awkward to tragic, their connections grow deeper, but in all the wrong ways, like a plant twisting and turning to find sunlight.

The plot remains largely the same as La Piscine, but instead of a thriller that comments on the emotional coldness people can harbor, A Bigger Splash dissects how you make emotional connections and what people do to maintain them. The island where the film takes place can be the setting of a fantasy or a nightmare, depending on who you are, and the beautiful images of the film provide an unsettling contrast with the disturbing story.

The connections between the friends are deep, and so are their scars. Their history is never fully explained and flashbacks are employed in a way that doesn’t talk down to the viewers. A Bigger Splash provides more questions than answers, but I would say that’s also true about life. All we can do is decide to be human, and fiercely protect the relationships that help us hold on to that humanity. Even if you have to do terrible things to save them.


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