Posted in: Movies, Recent Updates | Tagged: rachel weisz, terence davies, tom hiddleston

The Deep Blue Sea Will Close BFI London Film Festival

Before you all get too excited, I'm not talking about that shark movie with Samuel L. Jackson. Which is rare for me, since approximately 82% of all my conversations start with the words, "Hey, remember that shark movie with Samuel L. Jackson?"

I lead a sheltered life.

No, this is actually an adaptation of the play by Terence Rattigan, about Hester Collyer, the wife of British judge who starts a passionate but doomed affair with an alcoholic ex-R.A.F. pilot. How do we know it's doomed? Well the play starts with Hester's neighbours finding her after she has tried and failed to commit suicide, and apparently things only go downhill from there. The film will close this year's BFI London Film Festival on October 27th.

Rachel Weisz plays the lead, in a role that was first filled by Peggy Ashcroft when the play opened in 1952. Tom Hiddleston (Thor, War Horse) plays ex-pilot Freddie Page. It was adapted for the screen and directed by Terence Davis (The House of Mirth) and will be one of the last films to be funded by the UK Film Council, alongside Film4. We've seen the play on the screen before, as a 1994 episode of Performance (a series of filmed stage plays) with Colin Firth and Penelope Wilton, and as a 1955 film with Vivien Leigh and Kenneth More.

The theme of the film, according to Rattigan, is that "The phenomenon of love is inexplicable in terms of logic." Now it's common knowledge that I don't have a romantic bone in my body and would normally rather watch 3 hours of Go Compare adverts on a loop than subject to myself with anything with hearts and flowers. That said, The Deep Blue Sea does sound interesting and has a great cast lined up. Plus it sounds like there's lots of misery in it, and I do have a bit of a penchant for misery.

Update: As of 6 hours ago, the first clip from The Deep Blue Sea has emerged online. It's not exactly groundbreaking, unless two people dancing slowly in a circle canoodling really blows your mind. At least the music is quite nice.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpR_hxnLD4s[/youtube]

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