Deep End

Directed by Jerzy Skolimowsky

The Swinging Sixties are over but there are still eye-opening new experiences in store for wet-behind-the-ears teenager Mike (Moulder-Brown) when he takes a job at a rundown London swimming baths. After one of its more mature visitors steamily attempts to take advantage (Diana Dors, in a superb cameo), he gradually wises up to find himself adrift with an increasingly obsessive interest in sassy, self-assured, spoken-for co-worker Susan (a seductive Jane Asher). Giddily he follows her into the grimy underbelly of Soho for a long dark night of the soul – soundtracked with great intensity by Krautrock legends, Can.

Nicolas Winding Refn: “This truly brilliant coming-of-age story is a great view of London in the late 60s, but what’s so ironic is that it’s made by a Polish guy and mostly shot in Germany, which gives it this really unusual tone. I remember seeing the movie and I was like, ‘Oh my God, this is truly a unique film.’ And again, it has a very fairytale-like love story, which I love. It’s also such a wonderful movie about adolescence. Anyone who’s been a teen in love with someone older can really relate to Deep End.”

Duration:
92 minutes

Languages:
English

Country of origin:
Great Britain

Year of production:
1970