A BIGGER SPLASH
Directed by Luca Guadagnino
Screenplay by David Kajganich and Alain Page
Starring Tilda Swinton; Matthias Schoenaerts; Ralph Fiennes, and Dakota Johnson
The peaceful vacation of Marianne Lane (Tilda Swinton) an aging rock star on vocal rest and her boyfriend Paul ( Matthias Schoenaerts) is disrupted by Harry an old friend (Ralph Fiennes) and his daughter Penelope (Dakota Johnson).
Many people loved Luca Guadagnino's I Am Love. Me? Not so much. So I come to his A Bigger Splash. As I follow my No Spoiler Review rules this will be tough. I walked away from this film thinking....did I miss something....at the same time...oddly I like it and I think it was because of the performances. So I will start there:
Tilda Swinton as Marianne. She is an aging rock star who is on vocal rest vacationing with her boyfriend on the beautiful Italian Island Of Pantelleria. In Fact Pantelleria itself is a character in the film. Pantelleria is gorgeous!! It is a wonderful performance by Swinton because she does not speak. Every emotion from her is by facial expression. Which kind of leaves me or you as the viewer with some loose ends. You cannot get a sense of what she really thinks of the visitors that crash the retreat.
Matthias Schoenaerts as Paul, Marianne's boyfriend. Lets face it he has never given a bad performance. In this film oddly he talks about as much as Swinton's character. You really do not know what is going through his mind. You feel he does not trust or like Harry, but then they sit down for drinks often. You also see him watching Penelope quietly. Is he "in to her" or just he does not trust her? So speaking of Penelope...........
Dakota Johnson as Penelope. I looooove Dakota. Even before she became famous in Shades Of Grey. I think she is a wonderful actress.While watching this I thought often....what is she up to? Is she just a narcissist? Whatever she is, I think she was up to something. I still have no idea what her motives were. I even went on IMDB Message Boards to read what other people thought of her character. It is even debated on that message board. I do know this..that this Penelope character is the type of Character her mom, Melanie Griffith would play in her younger days. See Something Wild.
Ralph Fiennes as Harry. So you have three people who rarely talk. Do not worry..Harry makes up for that. He does not shut up. Fiennes is so great here. He plays against his type. Usually we see his characters being quiet and thoughtful. Not here!!! There is one fantastically embarrassing and wonderful scene as he sings and dances to Emotional Rescue by the Rolling Stones. He is either being rude, singing, running around naked, yes naked, Did he show up with ulterior motives? You judge when you see it.
Four wonderful performances. With a very confusing script. I walk away from this thinking maybe that was the point. It is open ended, maybe that was the goal to make us keep thinking what the heck was Penelope up to. What was her plan. Why?
Well 3 1/2 out of 5 stars for this odd beautiful; well acted film. Strange thing is when I walked out I thought 3 stars, but after a couple days I raised it a bit. I cannot not stop thinking, again, what was Penelope up to. What was her part if any in all this? If you get a chance to see it you can message me your thoughts
One last note....this film has a lot of nudity. All four stars are nude often. If that offends you this is not the film for you.
As always from the shadows as always thanks for your time.
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