Rent Deep End (1970)

Why did it take me so long to see this? - Deep End review by NP

There were so very many interesting films released in the early 1970s, especially those from in and around Europe, it’s inevitable that some escape the attention they may deserve. As a personal observation, I can’t believe it has taken until 2022 for me to see this extraordinary and decidedly odd little UK/West German coming-of-age production.

Polish director Jerzy Skolimowski gives us an accurate look at London at the tail end of the swinging sixties, even though large portions of the film were shot in Munich. Beautiful people John Moulder-Brown and Jane Asher play Mike and Susan, who appear to be on course for a rocky love affair. Of course, things aren't as simple as that. Diana Dors is also excellent in a sensual role that reinvigorated her career.

Scenes were carried out with only a loose script, encouraging improvisation which gives a raw, sometimes awkward set of performances. The characters also come across as completely naturalistic, even if - as was common practise back then - many of the lines of dialogue were redubbed.

A heady slice of apparently small-time adolescent melodrama, this nevertheless becomes increasingly unsettling as it goes. It never becomes a horror film, but certainly has trappings of that genre. I absolutely loved it.

Compelling British Drama - Deep End review by GI

Although considered a defining British film this is actually a US/German production mostly filmed in Munich but narratively set in England. Viewed today this tragic drama has an interesting theme especially when considered with something like the recent British TV series Adolescence. There's a bleak vision of England at the end of the 1960s shown here as a 15 year old school leaver, Mike (John Moulder-Brown) begins his first job as an attendant at the local baths (at this time this was typically a swimming pool and also private baths where the public came to wash as many homes didn't have there own bathroom in this period). Mike is fresh faced, good looking, naive and a virgin and is soon embarrassed by the attention, often bizarre, that he receives from the customers. He becomes obsessed with the confident and pretty Susan (Jane Asher), his co-worker, who enjoys teasing him. As his longing for Susan increases Mike embarks on a campaign to sabotage her two relationships, acts which both annoy and yet amuse her. But his obsession will push the boundaries of his emotions to dire consequences. A sexual awakening story and a story of the loss of innocence that is both dark and has an odd surrealistic vibe to it. It's a film that reveals a side of English society at this time that was open to easy sex and porn even for the legally under aged. An interesting drama, compelling and a bit strange that has recently been restored. It's well worth your time if you haven't seen it.