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 Italian director Luca Guadagnino's remake of the 1969 French
film "La Piscine" ("The Swimming Pool") about a vicious love
triangle set on the Cote d'Azur, transfers the action to the
Italian Mediterranean island of Pantelleria.
The setting is a cue for Fiennes' character Harry, a record
producer, to unleash his inner satyr.
He flies unannounced into Pantelleria with his daughter Penelope
(Dakota Johnson) and barges in on his rock-star ex-girlfriend
Marianne (Swinton) and her filmmaker lover Paul (Matthias
Schoenaerts).
Cast here as a motor mouth, know-it-all extrovert, Fiennes is
called upon to do a scene where he dances around a pool, solo
and without speaking a word.
"I received this fantastic screenplay...and about 20 minutes
into the film it's written that he (Harry) gets up and dances
and expresses himself completely through dancing," Fiennes told
a news conference.
"I've never been asked to do that in a film before so I said,
'Yes, thank you'," Fiennes, who also danced briefly for
photographers, said.
Swinton, who was directed by Guadagnino in "I Am Love" (2009),
said at first the timing was not right for her to do "A Bigger
Splash."
When it became possible, she suggested her part should be a
mostly non-speaking role, which is why her character Marianne is
convalescing from a throat operation.
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"It was a moment in my life when I really didn't want to say
anything, even less than I do now, but I sort of figured (it) out
against wanting to be with Luca in pretty much any circumstances,
wanting to go to Pantelleria and wanting to play with these
extraordinary performers," Swinton said.
The film received mixed notices from the trade press. The Hollywood
Reporter said it benefits from a "cool and desirable cast" but
"feels empty and intellectualized at the core, where it should feel
powerfully emotional".
Variety praised Fiennes, even though it said viewers might want to
strangle his character the minute he shows up on screen.
"Sustaining such obnoxiousness is a harder feat to pull off than one
might imagine, and though this isn’t a typical awards-seeking
performance from Fiennes, it certainly ranks among the actor’s
best," Variety said.
The film is among 21 competing for the Lion d'Or top prize to be
awarded on Saturday.
(Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
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