Written by Matt Giles
Edited by Erin Accomando
The Deep Blue Sea, the 2012 film from writer/director Terence Davies, tells the story of Hester Collyer (Rachel Weisz), a woman married to High Court judge Sir William Collyer (Simon Russell Beale) who begins having an affair with an RAF pilot Freddie Page (Tom Hiddleston) because her marriage is, well, devoid of passion. The present time in the story is set somewhere around 1950 and takes place over a single day that begins with Hester’s failed attempt at suicide. The film weaves in and out of flashbacks showing how her affair began and ultimately what led her to want to commit suicide in the first place.
I have to admit, from the very first sequence, this film was
not working for me. There are movies that can pull off a slow pace with an
overbearing presence of melodrama; this, sadly, is not one of them. To be fair
I have never seen any of Davies’ other films, but from what I’ve read this
style of filmmaking seems to be what he’s known and praised for. Frankly, I
don’t see it.
Based on a 1952 play by Terence Rattigan, the film tries to
show a portrait of a woman whom we’re meant to feel sorry for. Now it’s very
true that that Weisz gives an outstanding performance and should be recognized
come awards season, however, through no fault of Weisz, I never quite felt the
sympathy the film seemingly wanted me to feel for Hester. Hester herself is not
written as a sympathetic character, she’s written as a mess; a victim of her
own self destructiveness. She’s more frustrating than anything else.
It’s true that she is in a marriage that has no physical
relationship. Her husband does love her, but does not seem to see the point in
having sex. It’s also true that William is much older than Hester, and, from
what I could gather, was married for his money. When she begins her affair with
Freddie we see instantly that everything between them is completely physical.
Most of what Freddie says has to do with his longing to be in the war again;
how being a pilot during that time was the most exciting part of his life. As
an audience, we see the looks on Hester’s face and know instantly that this is
all Freddie wants to talk about. Hester falls so in love with Freddie despite
him never really fully committing to that head-over-heals in love she wants him
to feel.
That’s the problem with a character written like this: She
knows that he’ll never love her the way she loves him and yet she continues to
punish herself, believing that she can make him love her. Why? Well we’re never
really told. The entire film is one sequence after another that illustrates why
these two should not be together. Yet, our heart is supposed to break for
Hester?
To be clear, this is not victim blaming. Hester is just a
sad woman who says one thing but truly believes another and chooses to live in
misery. I once heard the phrase, “You can’t help someone who won’t help oneself”,
and guess that idea still sticks with me. After months apart, William,
initially angry and never wanting to see Hester again upon finding out about
the affair, checks in on Hester after her suicide attempt and offers to grant
her a divorce and to help her in any way he can. She is given an out and never
really does anything with it. Instead, she keeps bothering Freddie, begging him
to love her after he finds out that she tried to kill herself. This does not
come across as sad; it comes across as pathetic.
When the credits rolled I was kind of stumped. I didn’t
understand why this film that I was looking forward to was getting so
over-praised by critics. In reading Chicago Tribune film critic Michael
Phillips’ review of the film, I found out that he, too, praised it but also
made sure to mention that, “Davie’s touch will never be for everyone”. Again,
having not seen any of his other work, I do not feel that I can appropriately
dignify that statement with a response. What I can say is that this film misses
its mark by a long shot. If this is a sign of Davies’ other works I must be
immune to his touch.
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