A Bigger Splash * * * *

Better than they look.  (Thank God!)

Like one of its main characters, this film shows a confidence which makes you wonder where it came from.

Director Luca Guadagnino has done a couple of smaller budget films before this one, but this is a big step up. He has four very bankable stars performing in it: Tilda Swinton Ralph Fiennes, Matthias Schoenaerts and Dakota Johnson. Swinton was in his previous films too.

The idea of Tilda Swinton playing an ageing rock star is only slightly less unappealing than Meryl Streep doing the same (Ricki and the Flash (ugh!)).  Indeed, even before seeing this I felt I would be so unconvinced it wouldn’t be worth the effort.

But fortunately we are spared much of Tilda doing a rock star routine. As for her age, in fairness it has to be acknowledged there are many rock stars (Rolling Stones) who are older than any of these actors.

A Bigger Splash is actually a very good film with some powerful and memorable scenes. 

The whole drama is set on the island of Pantelleria off the coast of Italy.  Ageing rock star Marianne Lane has gone there to recover with her partner Paul.  Her voice, which is virtually her income, is damaged, and she can only speak in whispers.  Paul has known drugs and drink all too well in his time and now wants to be clean.  They have ensured that the isolated villa has no drink or substances in it. It is ideal for recuperation.

Enter their old associate Harry with his newly found daughter.  Like many people in the Rock Industry Harry spread his seed around and has only just connected with his surprise daughter, Penelope. Harry compensates his fading glory by boasting of past achievements. He fills their fridge with booze and their house with noise. Now in his fifties he is still a twenty four hour party animal, which you’d think would be a pain in the arse to watch but Feines actually does it very well in an unsettling way - especially how he interacts with his daughter.

Tension between the four increases as we learn Marianne and Harry were once lovers Meanwhile Paul seems to have found an eye for Penelope. Jealousy arises between the men with serious consequences.

Stand outs are a physical conflict between two men in a swimming pool which is extraordinarily choreographed: and the scenes of a younger woman (Penelope) provoking and teasing a middle age man (Paul) has wonderful dialogue and exchange in words both spoken and unspoken.

I don’t know if  the specifics were in the script, or if each of the four actors found something inside themselves to make their characters convincing but either way it works. You believe these people.

It’s a story that is good but no more than adequate.  However, where A Bigger Splash shines, is in the telling of the story, both in acting and directing and shooting.

It’s not short of symbolism either with recurring images of snakes and reptiles, refugees and sycophants.

Visually, there are times when the direction of Luca Guadagnino reminded me of Michelangelo Antonioni - which is not a bad source of inspiration for any director. Or maybe that's just an insight into my lack of knowledge of cinema history