I’ve been mulling over this for a few days and the more I think about it the more I think The Deep Blue Sea is a really wonderful film.
I’m not an expert on Terence Davies and have only seen Of Time and the City, which I thought was great, his voice alone is just glorious. I also don’t know anything about Terrence Rattigan really although am now keen to see more of his work.
This is a study of the human condition and of a crumbling post-war London. Rachel Weizs is quietly heartbreaking as Hester, a woman who leaves her boring, safe and wealthy husband (played with great subtetly by Simon Russel Beale) and runs off with Tom Hiddlestons Freddie, a man who feels that the war was the peak of his life and the time he was most alive. Despite Hester seemingly having what she most wants, she is filled with a despair she can’t explain.
It is very stagey and talky which would normally be off putting but the dialogue is so utterly compelling; thoughtful and witty in equal measure, it really doesn’t matter, and the shots and music are powerful and cinematic enough to elevate it far above the ground of standard TV movie fayre such as Mrs Henderson Presents or The Queen.
It makes for raw and unnerving viewing; emphasising the honest, awful truth that love really isnt all you need and that finding the words to express your own internal anguish is, sometimes, completely impossible. Yet I thought the final shot, though melancholic, might just be a sign of hope and that once we’ve rebuilt London and ourselves, everything will be alright in the end.