DEEP END Blu-ray Review

Editor, U.S. ; Dallas, Texas (@HatefulJosh)
DEEP END Blu-ray Review
BFI Flipside:
Newly employed at a run-down London swimming baths, Mike (John Moulder-Brown) obsesses over his sassy and self-assured co-worker (Jane Asher) whilst collecting tips for the 'special services' he is expected to perform for clients (including the superb Diana Dors). Darkly comic and utterly compelling, this portrait of Britain in a era of uncertainty makes its long overdue return to the screen in a new digital restoration with extensive bonus features.
This is why I love BFI Flipside.

Deep End is a film that is widely acclaimed among those who've seen it, and yet it remains largely unknown among modern film fans. Prior to this film, director Jerzy Skolimowski was best known as the co-writer of Roman Polanski's Knife in the Water, and was a part of the growing wave of Polish film makers who'd begun to garner serious notice in the 1960's.  Deep End, I believe, is his first English language film, and what a debut it is.

The story is one of the obsession of a young man, played with wide-eyed wonder by John Moulder-Brown, who, in his first job, falls in lust with a co-worker, played by the astonishingly beautiful Jane Asher.  Asher's Susan is a liberated woman of the '60s, who uses her sexuality as a tool to manipulate the gullible Moulder-Brown not for any personal gain, but for her own amusement.  Moulder-Brown's Mike doesn't know how to react, and with every passing tease, his crush moves closer to obsession.  The story is a brilliantly played one, wherein boy meets girl, boy wants girl, girl toys with boy, things go downhill.

I will attempt not to spoil the film, but it isn't a spoiler to say that things don't go exactly to plan for Mike.  He is alternately drawn in and repelled by Susan, to an absolutely painful degree.  If he's fallen in love with her, who is to say that she didn't lead him to it?  In the meantime she's carrying on a relationship with a fiance and an older swim instructor who fancies the young girls under his tutelage in the bathhouse in which they all work.  Mike witnesses these relationships all first hand and attempts to throw a spanner in the works of both, thinking to himself that he is saving Susan from these letches, but in reality, he is trying to build himself up.  It all goes smoothly for a while, but nothing lasts forever and the film's climax feels both shocking and inevitable all at once. What seems on film to be a serious case of puppy love gone wrong in Mike's case is actually disturbingly relatable.  As any teenager can tell you, love is particularly intense at Mike's tender age of 15, and every rejection feels like death. 

I saw in Deep End a film about the death of the 1960's, and Mike's relationship reflects that.  The film highlights Swinging London in decline, just as, the colorful storefronts all beginning to decay and the denizens of their seedier brothels aging in a way that reflects the way London, and the world's, optimism of the '60s began to give way to the cynicism of the 1970's.  '70s cinema reflects this, Deep End was released in 1970 and was at the forefront of this new type of cinema.  Jane Asher's Susan represents the 1960's promise of free love dying, and Mike chases it to no avail. 

Jerzy Skolimowski uses every device in his toolbox to make Deep End memorable, and succeeds wildly.  The film opens on Mike riding his bike to his new job, his flouncy hair blowing in the wind and his face showing the excitement and trepidation that comes with his newly found freedom.  Over this visual, we hear the superbly written Cat Stevens song, "But I Might Die Tonight", which is eerie in its meaning and yet completely appropriate for a young man off to his first day of adult work.  The handheld cinematography is also beautiful, and strikingly well done considering that the film was made a good twenty years before the invention of the steadicam.  All of the elements work together to make Deep End a very special film and a unique experience that I wasn't quite prepared for, but am very glad I've had

The Film:

I can't say enough amazing things about the BFI Flipside line, and Deep End is another link in their unbroken chain of successes.  The image quality is impeccable, with a beautifully evocative picture, vibrant colors, amazing detail, and a wonderfully filmlike visual presentation.  There is grain where appropriate, but even when the film is grainy, there is an engrossing amount of detail.  From the incredibly mesmerizing red of Jane Asher's hair, to the deep dull blues of the swimming pool, the colors are amazing, and definitely impact the experience in a positive way.  BFI have provided a PCM uncompressed mono audio track that seems to recreate the intended sound beautifully, with no hisses, pops, or scratches.

The extras on this disc are also impressive, most were created for a German home video edition, but all are presented here in HD and they are wonderful.  First up is Starting Out: The Making of Jerzy Skolimowski's Deep End, which runs 74 minutes and covers numerous facets of the production.  This documentary addresses casting, writing, art direction, cinematography, improvisation, and other parts of the production, all from first hand sources. The documentary is wonderfully produced and packs a lot of information into it's 74 minutes, I will definitely be revisiting it following my next viewing of Deep End.

Also included is Deep End: The Deleted Scenes, which is not actually deleted scenes, which were not very often saved back in 1970, but descriptions of the scenes from the editor, director, and actors, and is very interesting in the way directors and editors choose which scenes fit and don't fit. 

The last major extra on the disc is a short film starring Jane Asher called Careless Love, in which she plays a woman obsessed with a man, rather than the other way around.  Rounding out the set are a trailer and a massive and fascinating booklet on containing information and essay about Deep End as well as a biography of Skolimowsky and a brief essay about Careless Love.  BFI's booklets are among the best in the business, and I can see myself revisiting this one often.

In case you can't tell, I'm a huge fan of this film, the distributor, and the package BFI have provided. Now, the best part: the package is all region, and all of the material on the Blu-ray is in HD, so it is accessible anywhere in the world!  There is no excuse now!  If you are a fan of counter culture filmmaking, you need this set.
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