When we first catch glimpse of rock star Marianne Lane (Tilda Swinton)—who’s part Ziggy Stardust and part Chrissie Hynde—she’s strutting on stage in a crowded arena. We then cut quickly to Marianne looking rather subdued and Euro-chic, her black shag mullet replaced by a stylish red bob, languorously taking in the sun in Sicily with her boyfriend Paul (Matthias Schoenaerts). Theirs is a near-silent idyll, partly because Marianne is recovering from throat surgery and has been instructed not to speak. The most disruptive force possible arrives in the form of Marianne’s ex, music producer and Rolling Stones enthusiast Harry (Ralph Fiennes), a loud, lusty hedonist—a hurricane in human form. Traveling with him is a beautiful, disaffected young woman named Penelope (Dakota Johnson), who turns out to be his recently discovered daughter (Harry takes great delight in the fact that people think she’s his lover).
We come to discover that it was Harry who introduced Marianne to Paul—ostensibly as a favor to Paul, but more likely to continue to exert some control over Marianne’s life, even after their breakup. And it’s clear that Paul sees Harry as a very unwelcome presence, indeed—a threat not just to the blissful sanctity of his vacation, but his very relationship with Marianne
Director Luca Guadagnino does a wonderful job of navigating this simmering tension, in which the heat, the isolation of the resort, and Harry’s unchecked appetites all conspire to destabilize everything. The fact that Marianne can’t speak just adds to the sense that there are emotions unexpressed and secrets unsaid. The film, in many ways, is about the push-pull between ego and id, between repression and desire.
The performances are mostly wonderful. Schoenaerts is guarded and disdainful as the slow-burning Paul and the bewitching Swinton is the perfect choice to play a character who barely speaks (you can’t take your eyes off her). But it’s Fiennes, inevitably perhaps, who steals the show. Between Grand Budapest Hotel, Coriolanus, the Harry Potter films, and Hail, Caesar! he has become one of my favorite actors—a stunning development since I was somewhat Fiennes-agnostic back in the day. What makes his Harry so great is that he manages to be seductive and repulsive—perfectly mirroring Marianne and Paul’s dueling points of view.
The only character who didn’t quite resonate with me was Penelope, who seemed more like a plot device—a Lolita-like temptress with questionable motives—than a fully formed human being. Johnson plays her in a somewhat one-note way, which may not really be her fault. The character is undercooked.
Still, A Bigger Splash is a film to be savored, especially if you’re able to appreciate its slow and sensuous rhythms. It’s like taking a stylish and sexy Mediterranean vacation with fascinating and beautiful people who alternately want to screw each other and kill each other. Where do I sign?