Performance (TV Series) The Deep Blue Sea (1994) User Reviews

Faithful adaptation of Terence Rattigan's wonderful play

[miss_lady_ice-853-608700 · 8/10 · 3 May 2012]

Despite being written in 1952, Terence Rattigan's play is no old war horse. Like Brief Encounter, it perfectly depicts a time now lost forever, and yet, still manages to be modern.

Hester (Penelope Wilton) is a late thirty-something beauty, who escaped from a respectable suffocating marriage and is now stuck in a suffocating affair with Freddie Page (Colin Firth), a boyish ex-pilot with a drink problem. Despite her knowledge that Freddie no longer wants her, Hester would rather be unhappy than lose him. A failed suicide attempt calls her estranged husband Judge Collyer (Ian Holm) back. Contained in the shabby flat Hester lives in with Freddie, over these next hours, we see Hester conflicted by the two men in her life.

This is a filmed version of the play made for the BBC, and so it looks like a play rather than a film. This works in its favour, as opening out the play makes it lose its claustrophobia.

Wilton is a little too old for her role and not the beauty that Rattigan describes. Rachel Weisz in the 2011 film adaptation is too beautiful- it is Vivien Leigh in the 1955 film adaptation that resembles Hester the most, although her interpretation is a little cold. This may seem like a shallow comment but we are expected to believe that young sexy Freddie would want to have an affair with her.

Colin Firth is the standout as Freddie. This may be because I'm rather fond of Firth but I'm sure an objective viewer would agree. He has the boyish good-looks and it is perfectly clear why Hester would shack up with him. Firth manages to make Freddie a self-absorbed little boy but also makes him sympathetic, which shows that Firth's acting ability had been long neglected by the critics.

Ian Holm is the stuffy Judge. He conveys the right amount of guilt, regret, and pathetic love, yet we know that Hester won't be happy with him. This is a tragic performance.

The supporting cast are mixed. Carmel McSharry is a standard Mrs Elton and Stephen Tomkinson, despite a distracting northern accent, does a good job with Phillip, the nosy neighbour who means well. The others are all forgettable- I have yet to see a good performance of Mr Miller, perhaps the hardest character of all to pull off.

I highly recommend this production but also urge you to see a stage version so you can understand the importance of the secondary characters.

Shout At The Devil

[writers_reign · 8/10 · 10 April 2011]

This is essentially a photographed version of the production presented on stage at the Almeida in Islington and subsequently transferred to the West End. Being the work of Terence Rattigan we take stagecraft for granted and in Hester Collyer he created a part fit to stand alongside Blanche du Bois as a role that actresses covet. Alas, I never saw Peggy Ashcroft who played Hester in the original version in 1952 and it's worth noting that when it came time to film the play (1955 in this case) Ashcroft lost out to Vivien Leigh just as Jessica Tandy had when they came to film Streetcar. For reasons that elude me (perhaps I should get out more) Anatole Litvak's film version, in which Kenneth More recreated on film the role that made him a star - again as Brando did in Streetcar - remains stubbornly elusive, even beyond the reach (presumably, why else to account for its omission from the current Rattigan mini season) of the BFI but it is being filmed for the big screen even as we speak, in the meantime the play is revived regularly and we do have this version now playing in the Mediateque at South Bank. It's packed with faces that were then or are now familiar to theatregoers and TV viewers from Ian Holm, then married to Penelope Wilton, Carmel McSharry, Imogen Stubbs, Stephen Tomkinson, and current 'hot' property Colin Firth who can't quite bring off the breezy charm that came so effortlessly to Kenny More. Penny Wilton tries her damnedest as Hester and gets about 85% of the character but as with the majority of Rattigan's plays they tend to be actor proof and are delightful to watch.

On the most part, this version of 'The Deep Blue Sea' is excellent

[TheLittleSongbird · 8/10 · 21 August 2016]

Terence Rattigan has very quickly become one of my favourite playwrights, his dialogue is so intelligent, witty and meaty, his characterisation so dynamic, complex and real and the storytelling so beautifully constructed.

While there is a preference for 'The Winslow Boy', 'Separate Tables' and especially 'The Browning Version', 'The Deep Blue Sea' is still another wonderful Rattigan play with the writing being 24-carat Rattigan and the story being timeless, very like a romantic classic film plot (the 'Brief Encounter' comparison is pretty apt) but also still feeling fresh and current.

Definitive version it may not be, and there are better productions and film versions available of Rattigan's work, but on the most part this is excellent with great performances from the leads. Starting with the flaws, the ending does suffer from being cut to a somewhat insensitive degree so it does lose its impact. The supporting cast is also very important in 'The Deep Blue Sea', that could have been brought out more. The supporting cast do do their hardest and nobody is bad (apart from Wojciech Pszoniak whose Mr Miller is so anonymous that one doesn't remember him at all), but only Carmel McSharry and Stephen Tompkinson make an above good-standard impression, very good in fact.

On the other hand, the production is beautifully filmed and while it does look like a filmed play that is actually an advantage here as the production values are still atmospheric and sumptuous without looking too stage bound. As has been said there is a claustrophobic atmosphere in the play that works so well on stage or as a filmed play and is not quite as effective perhaps cinematically. The writing captures all the intelligence, wit and nuances of Rattigan's style as well as his meaty characterisation, and the story is paced very well and handles the characters and their stories adeptly.

As aforementioned earlier, the leads are great, splendid even. Penelope Wilton may be too old agreed, but that still doesn't stop her from giving a truly sensitive and moving performance. Ian Holm, who was also excellent in the 1985 adaptation of 'The Browning Version' as Crocker-Harris a stuffy and stern character but as one knows more about him one feels a lot of sympathy for him, brings very similar qualities of that performance and even more of a tragic quality to the judge Sir William Collyer and it is truly memorable and beautifully done. The standout is Colin Firth, though Holm is very close behind, who manages to bring a sympathetic edge to a self-absorbed character, not an easy thing to do but Firth pulls it off brilliantly.

Overall, excellent on the most part apart from reservations about the ending and that the supporting cast could have had more prominence, though nobody apart from the Mr Miller came off badly. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Hard Edged Version of Rattigan

[l_rawjalaurence · 16 February 2018]

Compared to the Vivien Leigh version of the classic, this has a steely. edge. Penelope Wilton is a hard-nosed wheeler dealer who wants the best for herself and will be prepared to fight for it. She receives her ex-husband politely enough, but turns down his offer of reconciliation flat, in full knowledge that it will not work. In the end she understands her alliance with Freddle will not work either: Freddie is too self-centred, despite being a good physical lover. Left on her own, Wilton goes through the complicated task of filling Freddie's suitcase, prior to leaving it for him to pick up at Charing Cross.