Review of The Deep Blue Sea (2011) by Anna Margarethe O — 06 Aug 2012

The Deep Blue Sea serves as a refresher that Rachel Weisz (an Oscar winner for The Constant Gardener) is an actress of incandescent abilities, and she mixes wonderfully with writer-director Terence Davies in this haunting drama about love gone right and wrong. Adapted from the 1952 play of the same name by Terence Rattigan, The Deep Blue Sea centers on infidelity and all the carnal emotions it ushers. The film itself is remarkable, a beautifully wrought tone poem by a most amazing filmmaker. Best known for 1988's Distant Voices, Still Lives and 1992's The Long Day Closes, both centering on his childhood home of Liverpool, and for his adaptation of Edith Wharton's biting novel The House of Mirth, Davies has always been a one-of-a-kind filmmaker, but largely under-appreciated. Time to take notice, as Davies approaches Rattigan's play like a painter, favoring performances over plot points.

The story: Hester Collyer (Weisz) puts a strain on her marriage to her older judge husband Sir William Collyer (Simon Russell-Beale, superb) when she falls in love with RAF pilot Freddie Page (Tom Hiddleston, is he ever bad?). Hester becomes enamored just by touching Freddie. She sees things differently with him, feels different, even though he's plagued by hard drinking. And Hiddleston (so fucking good as evil Loki in Thor and The Avengers) is terrific, willing to use all of himself to portray a man, vulnerabilities and all. He and Weisz are electrifying together. Kudos too to Davies who makes triumphant use of a bomb-devastated London with people singing pub songs amid thick swirls of cigarette smoke cut by window light (a toast to cinematographer Florian Hoffmeister). But Freddie isn't perfect, and it's his neglectful behavior that leads to his own self-loathing as well as Hester's breakdown and suicide. Weisz plays it for real too, not for show, such is her amazing gifts. She makes her pain felt, and because of her and Hiddleston there's no dismissing The Deep Blue Sea as stuffy Brit drama. It's heartfelt and unforgettable.