The swimming pool is a secular temple of near-nakedness, and sex perfumes everything like the tang of chlorine. . In a standout scene, Harry launches into a frenzied, shirtless dance to the Rolling Stones' 'Emotional Rescue' around the beautifully tiled pool at Tenuta Borgia estate, above and below left. With her preternatural stillness and sculptured hauteur, Ms. Swinton has always looked ready for her close-up with D. W. Griffith; few contemporary movie actresses can hold you with their gaze as effortlessly as she does. As the former lover of a recuperating rock star re-enters her life, complications between him, her and her current lover ensue. Incredibly creepy moment man, 23, breaks into woman's apartment and STARES at her while she sleeps on the couch - before she wakes up and he steals a pair of socks on the way out The cast itself was good, and the film definitely wasn't following any clichs or formulas, so perhaps I would feel like rewatching it in the future and that would change my mind. "A Bigger Splash" follows an unlikely foursome -- rockstar Marianne Lane (Tilda Swinton), her boyfriend, Paul (Matthias Schoenaerts), Marianne's ex, Harry (Ralph Fiennes), and Harry's. But, you know, stranger things have happened. A few years ago, the luxury-goods company Christian Dior recycled images of that films heartthrob attraction, Alain Delon, in an ad campaign for its cologne Eau Sauvage that used the Rolling Stones Sympathy for the Devil. The playlist for A Bigger Splash includes a couple of Stones songs as well, notably Emotional Rescue, which is in rotation with Harry Nilsson, Giuseppe Verdi, 1970s Brazilian classics and Hollywoods eternal bad boy Robert Mitchum murdering the calypso ditty Beauty Is Only Skin Deep.. 'I wouldn't have made the film if I could not have made it on Pantelleria. Hes also a Transformers enthusiast and avid pop culture scholar. Its about nine minutes long and not that well-known so I doubt a room full of Sicilians would be able to sing along to. A pop singer who cant speak (albeit temporarily) is one of the most contrived characters youll find in film, and perhaps one of the most bluntly ironic ones too. Matthias Schoenaerts and Ralph Fiennes are the stars of the movie, and both of their performances are exceptional, especially the former's. World famous singer Marianne Lane (Swinton), temporarily mute from a recent throat operation, is enjoying a relaxing holiday with her doting film-maker boyfriend Paul De Smedt (Schoenaerts) on a remote idyllic Italian island. Tensions flare as Harry's ulterior motives to steal Marianne back after having 'given her' to Paul, while Penelope's relationships with her father and Paul come into question. [12], The first international teaser trailer was released on 1 October 2015. 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. That insufferable hedonist Harry is forever showing the group a good time; forever making everyone take second place to the good time he is having. Adults behaving like adults, only naughtier and far nastier. Read next: The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou Filming Locations in Italy, Hey! Matthias Schoenaerts intelligently conveys the way Paul feels constrained by gratitude and good manners Harry actually introduced him to Marianne. In fact, because the film is so precise for long in both its beauty and its weirdness, the tonal shift toward uncomfortable farce feels that much more . While they are out mingling with the crowds at a local festival, Harry toe-curlingly insists on taking Marianne to a bar with a karaoke machine, dangerously forcing her to be on display, like a drug-dealer getting a former customer to tumble back off the wagon, exploiting her celebrity and feeding off it. Sign in to rate and Watchlist for personalized recommendations. Director Luca Guadagnino set the majority of the action on the volcanic island of Pantelleria, situated between Sicily and Tunisia. An aging rock star's respite in the Mediterranean is interrupted by an old lover in A Bigger Splash. Best wishes, James. So, Cineteatro San Gaetanostands in for the bar which is calledCircolo San Gaetano. Video From The New Yorker. A Bigger Splash is a sensuous portrait of desire, jealousy and rock and roll. Somehow this global hodgepodge actuallyworks,asA Bigger Splash which premiered at last years Venice Film Festival is lots of fun if you let yourself go and dont worry about how sleazy the whole thing really is. Complete load of rubbish, masquerading as an art(y) film. Let us know what you think. Passion on Pantelleria. A Bigger Splash A convalescing rockstar and her boyfriend vacationing on the Mediterranean island of Pantelleria see their private holiday disrupted when they receive an unexpected visit. The world that Mr. Guadagnino creates is at once seductive and aspirational, and another reminder that movies have always excelled at stoking consumer desires. Guadagnino elegantly draws on influences from fact and fiction: Harry is a former acquaintance of the Rolling Stones and the movie refers to Brian Jones in an early interview scene. Yet these moments register as ritualistic at best, opportunistic at worst, and you wish he wouldnt even bother. Their holiday is hijacked by Marianne's eccentric former flame Harry (Ralph Fiennes) and his long-lost daughter Penelope (Dakota Johnson). But the sign in the film is also the sign still about the cinemas door, so that seems a bit odd. All Rights Reserved. The views expressed are his own. [4] It is the second instalment in Guadagnino's self-described Desire trilogy, following I Am Love (2009) and preceding Call Me by Your Name (2017). While Matthias wasn't at his best, Tilda Swinton was, even voiceless, remarkably well cast. And to make things even more difficult, Harry has brought along his outrageously sexy and poutingly entitled daughter Penelope, played by Dakota Johnson. See production, box office & company info, (based on the film "La piscine" directed by) (adaptation by) (dialogue by), (based on an original screenplay by) (based on his novel "La piscine"). Bad things happen, because, you know, life is pain in the meantime, though, do enjoy the magnificent digs, the designer threads and the frolicking nude stars. American Meritocracy Is Killing Youth Sports, The 12 Most Unforgettable Descriptions of Food in Literature. An American couple, Paul and Marianne, spend their vacation in Italy and experience trouble . Theres a lot of Ralph Fiennes in the movie though, so prepared to see every, and I mean every, aspect of him. I have never heard of this film, but will look for it. Memories of teenage holidays on a far-flung Italian outpost between Sicily and Tunisia prompted director Luca Guadagnino to set his latest film, A Bigger Splash, on the volcanic island. After drinking on his own, Harry comes back very late and starts a fight with Paul beside the pool. Her record producer, mutual friend of both and former flame of Marianne, Harry (Ralph Fiennes), brings his estranged daughter, Penelope (Dakota Johnson), to spend time with the couple and, mostly, interrupt the vacation. Memories of teenage holidays on a far-flung Italian outpost between Sicily and Tunisia prompted director Luca Guadagnino to set his latest film, A Bigger Splash, on the volcanic island.A remake of the 1969 cult classic La Piscine, this is a tale of recuperating rock star Marianne (played by Tilda Swinton) and her boyfriend Paul (Matthias Schoenaerts), who are holed up on a romantic holiday . Penelope also is a nifty little seductress who uses her best Lolita-like wiles to attract Paul, while Harry brushes back rumors he is sleeping with his daughter by showing the true intentions for his visit: trying to rekindle his romance with Marianne. [8] The first clip was released on 5 September 2015. Harry says he was 16 when "Emotional Rescue" was released, but that album was released in June 1980 and Harry's passport birth date is in August 1961, so he was nearly 19 when that album came out. And it really is the local airport. With a script by David Kajganich, A Bigger Splash centers on a rock legend ( Swinton) who is recuperating on the volcanic island of Pantelleria with her partner Paul ( Schoenaerts) when. Shes recently learned that Harry is her father and now, for reasons that thicken the mystery, he has dragged her to Pantelleria without a hotel reservation, which is how they end up crashing at Marianne and Pauls hideaway. Paul is both quieter and hunkier, played by the French up-and-comer Schoenaerts, a champion brooder who excelled at the task in last years Far From the Madding Crowd. The first promo still of A Bigger Splash featuring Matthias Schoenaerts, Tilda Swinton, Dakota Johnson and Ralph Fiennes was released on 27 July 2015. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a rating of 89%, based on 184 reviews. If thats a smidge out of your price range, thecast of A Bigger Splash stayed at Dream Hotel, and most of the production crew stayed at Club Levante. Though it starts out as an energetic romantic yarn, following the struggles for Mariannes affection between her boyfriend Paul (Matthias Schoenaerts) and her old flame Harry (Ralph Fiennes), it becomes a far more engrossing film when it breaks out of its reverie and confronts the ugliness both within the villa and without. The director's prior "I Am Love" ultimately transcended its more pretentious, arbitrary aspects with a certain feeling of epic emotionality. Basically in Italy, in an isolated villa, on the small volcanic island of Pantelleria, world famous rock star Marianne Lane (Tilda Swinton) is recovering from a recent surgery, and is staying quiet to protect her singing voice, only communicating with hand signals and occasional whispers. Work with the band began with the filmmakers screening I Am Love (2009) for Mick Jagger and the rest of the band to introduce them to Luca Guadagnino's work. They both end up atLaghetto delle Ondine, a small rock pool that people like to swim in. Some superbly juxtaposed wordless scenes take us from Mariannes former life to her current situation and finally explain why they are happening in almost complete silence. Fienness performance is exhilarating and exhausting in equal measure, a jolt of fun for a film thats mostly about characters who want to languidly relax by the pool and make eyes at each other. Luca Guadagninos new film sees Tilda Swinton caught in the middle of two mens affections, while a weightier crisis plays out in the background. Stylistically and directorially very much in the same vein as Director Luca Guadagnino's earlier and equally impressive 'I am Love'. If you have a spare 3,400 for a weeks stay (in the offseason), theres isDammuso Grande. The Project aimed to scrape data from multiple webpages (59 pages) using BeautifulSoup and Requests libraries - Web-Scraping-Data-on-Multiple-Pages-with-Beautiful-Soup-/A Bigger Splash (2015) - ful. Ralph Fiennes was also friendly with Jagger and the duo went on a pilgrimage to a Stones concert in Rome to pitch A Bigger Splash. Mr. Guadagnino may be actually trying to assuage his conscience (or ours), as if to do penance for all this careless opulence. A famous rock star's vacation in Italy with her boyfriend is disrupted by the unexpected visit of an old friend and his daughter.A famous rock star's vacation in Italy with her boyfriend is disrupted by the unexpected visit of an old friend and his daughter.A famous rock star's vacation in Italy with her boyfriend is disrupted by the unexpected visit of an old friend and his daughter. 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. The happy couple drives to this idyllic place and take a quick dip in this small, circular enclosed body of water and smear smelly sulphuric mud on each other. Things get increasingly intense and sexual as the film goes along. Seeing the sexy and gorgeously shot new filmA Bigger Splashis like taking a vacation to Italy that is if your idea of a vacation involves a little rock n roll, steamy couplings and murder mixed in with the scenery. I despair of professional critics who go weak at the knees if they can describe a film as arty. The body in the swimming pool perhaps connotes the terrible guilt and shame with which gilded youth and gilded middle age pay for their pleasures. Based on the 1969 thriller "La Piscine," "A Bigger Splash" is directed by Luca Guadagnino, whose 2009 drama "I Am Love" featured Swinton in a similarly toothsome role. Her muteness feels like a clunky addition that doesnt serve a purpose, and is yet another questionable decision from the director. [9] Swinton appeared in-character on the cover of the Autumn/Winter 2015 issue of AnOther Magazine. In fact, that achievement belongs to the director. The longer it went on, the more obnoxious it became, and what was initially interesting and intriguing became really lazy and uninspired. Not too flashy, but has all the luxurious amenities and authentic fixtures youd want to find in a large traditional, Sicilian villa. I believe this is owed to the director, who apparently is under the impression he has already won the DGA Lifetime Achievement Award. His jealous rage at Mariannes new happiness is displaced into fanatical, almost psychopathic bonhomie. Do you plan to seeA Bigger Splash? The only redeemable thing about this movie was the lovely Tilda Swinton, and her beautiful wardrobe. "A Bigger Splash" is based on Jacques Deray's 1969 film "La Piscine" ("The Swimming Pool"), one of those idle-rich soaps in which trouble pulls up in a Maserati.A few years ago, the . To complete this train of thought, it might be added that this film is obscene! I thought this film was annoying, at best. Wealthy and worldly, his characters are broadly the same as in the 1969 film, which is transplanted from the South of France setting to the Italian island of Pantelleria off the Sicilian coast. I wrote this. In Luca Guadagninos simmering drama, two ex-lovers are disastrously reunited at a Mediterranean villa where the pool is a temple of bared flesh and sex perfumes the air. Ilike that!, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning, uca Guadagnino assembles a very intimidating quartet for this chamber piece of sexual tension. We know it's all . What is the Hindi language plot outline for A Bigger Splash (2015)? Their quiet Italian Island break is quickly cut short by Harrys unprompted arrival at the local airport. Signup for Breaking News Alerts & Newsletters. A Bigger Splash is a sensuous delight of a film, but it has a darker heart that brands itself in the viewers mind. According to the film's producer Michael . Setting operatic music to frivolity is one of the most questionable decisions in the film until you realise that its meant as a reference to its source. Would be a dream come true. [13] The second trailer was released on 5 January 2016. I saw the trailer for this movie at the cinemas and thought it looked interesting, and then I accidentally sponsored it to be added to the movie trivia app Popcorn Trivia, alongside my intended title Splash (1984), so I was definitely going to watch it. A remake of Jacques Deray's 'La Piscine' (1969), 'A Bigger Splash' has attracted some big names: Ralph Fiennes, Tilda Swinton, Dakota Johnson and Matthias Schoenaerts make it a star-spangled vehicle indeed. The getaway-retreat scenario is a common film device for creating a chaotic crossroad where divergent character types can bring their shady pasts, chronic problems and deviant desires. Does it add to the story or characterisation to have her be mute? [34], the 1967 David Hockney painting of the same name, "Luca Guadagnino, Tilda Swinton & Dakota Johnson", "A Bigger Splash: Luca Guadagnino Interview", "Venice Film Festival: Lido Lineup Builds Awards Season Buzz Full List", "Venice Fest Reveals Robust Lineup Featuring Hollywood Stars and International Auteurs", "First still of "A Bigger Splash": Matthias Schoenaerts, Tilda Swinton, Dakota Johnson and Ralph Fiennes", "Exclusive 'A Bigger Splash' Photos Show Tilda Swinton's Beautiful Calm Before The Storm", "Watch: First Clip From 'A Bigger Splash' With Tilda Swinton, Dakota Johnson, Ralph Fiennes & Matthias Schoenaerts", "Tilda Swinton Covers AnOther Magazine, But Not as herself", "A Bigger Splash official teaser trailer", "WHY on Earth is Ralph Fiennes doing karaoke? The DGA Lifetime achievement Award we know it & # x27 ; respite... Bit odd almost psychopathic bonhomie cinemas door, so that seems a odd... 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