Terence Davies’s impassioned adaptation of Terence Rattigan’s post-war play finds Rachel Weisz and Tom Hiddleston on top form.
Hester Collyer (Weisz) leads a privileged life in 1950s London as the beautiful wife of high court judge Sir William Collyer (Simon Russell Beale). To the shock of those around her, she walks out on her marriage to move in with young ex-RAF pilot, Freddie Page (Hiddleston). But her passion for Freddie overwhelms him and the bitterness he experiences away from the adrenaline-fuelled life in the air soon finds him wishing for a different existence.
A study of forbidden love, suppressed desire and the crippling fear of loneliness, The Deep Blue Sea is one of the classic accounts of love and its limits. The three leads are exceptional, while the gracefulness of Davies’ direction – probing but never intruding – gives the film a stately quality.
