Deep End (1970) Review- By Michael J. Carlisle

Title: Deep End
Year: 1970
Director: Jerzy Skolimowski
Country: UK
Language: English

Set in London in the period when the optimism of the “Swinging Sixties” was beginning to dwindle, Deep End paints the picture of a British culture suffering from the emptiness of sexual decadence. It's an eccentric coming of age drama, not unlike Mike Nichols' The Graduate. The film is Polish Director Jerzy Skolimowski's second feature film, and would be rarely seen if not for TCM's Underground series (and recently BFI's dual format edition). I first viewed this film on TCM...at about 3am on a Friday. 

In this,15-year-old Mike (John Moulder-Brown) takes a job at the local swimming baths, where he becomes obsessed with an attractive young woman, Susan (Jane Asher), who works there as an attendant.

Most films from the 70's looked back at the 60's as a bubble of glittering optimism and stellar youth movements. Skolimowski exposes the seedier side of the youth scene, the purposeless of their lives and the pointlessness of their ideology. A study of unredeemable characters, the film probes into the empty lives of shattered people. Every character in Deep End struggles greatly with their personal identity, collective identity and their gender roles.

Deep End is contained in an eccentric atmosphere, filled with nervous electricity. The film dances between many different genres, experimenting with absurd comedy, black comedy, melodrama, and surrealism. Skolimowski uses a handheld camera, and combined with the constant use of natural lighting, it feels like a very low-budget independent production. The film's mis-en-scene is rather interesting, as every scene looks remarkably clean even though we are dealing with material that needs some scrubbing. 

Deep End is an utterly fascinating picture, certainly one of the most unique films I have ever seen. Unfortunately, because the studio failed in its marketing, Skolimowski's feature would not be a critical or commercial success at the time. Due to its unavailability throughout the years, it doesn't have the following that it rightfully deserves. Thankfully BFI and TCM believe in this wonderful cinematic achievement.