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The Deep Blue Sea

  • 2011
  • R
  • 1h 38m
IMDb RATING
6.2/10
17K
YOUR RATING
Rachel Weisz and Tom Hiddleston in The Deep Blue Sea (2011)
The wife of a British Judge is caught in a self-destructive love affair with a Royal Air Force pilot.
Play trailer1:19
2 Videos
82 Photos
DramaRomance

The wife of a British Judge is caught in a self-destructive love affair with a Royal Air Force pilot.The wife of a British Judge is caught in a self-destructive love affair with a Royal Air Force pilot.The wife of a British Judge is caught in a self-destructive love affair with a Royal Air Force pilot.

  • Director
    • Terence Davies
  • Writers
    • Terence Rattigan
    • Terence Davies
  • Stars
    • Rachel Weisz
    • Tom Hiddleston
    • Ann Mitchell
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    6.2/10
    17K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Terence Davies
    • Writers
      • Terence Rattigan
      • Terence Davies
    • Stars
      • Rachel Weisz
      • Tom Hiddleston
      • Ann Mitchell
    • 105User reviews
    • 183Critic reviews
    • 82Metascore
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 5 wins & 13 nominations total

    Videos2

    U.S. Version
    Trailer 1:19
    U.S. Version
    U.K. Version
    Trailer 1:02
    U.K. Version
    U.K. Version
    Trailer 1:02
    U.K. Version

    Photos81

    View Poster
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    + 76
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    Top cast15

    Edit
    Rachel Weisz
    Rachel Weisz
    • Hester Collyer
    Tom Hiddleston
    Tom Hiddleston
    • Freddie Page
    Ann Mitchell
    Ann Mitchell
    • Mrs Elton
    Jolyon Coy
    Jolyon Coy
    • Philip Welch
    Karl Johnson
    Karl Johnson
    • Mr Miller
    Simon Russell Beale
    Simon Russell Beale
    • Sir William Collyer
    Harry Hadden-Paton
    Harry Hadden-Paton
    • Jackie Jackson
    Sarah Kants
    Sarah Kants
    • Liz Jackson
    Oliver Ford Davies
    Oliver Ford Davies
    • Hester's Father
    Barbara Jefford
    Barbara Jefford
    • Collyer's Mother
    Mark Tandy
    Mark Tandy
    • Ede and Ravenscroft Assistant
    Stuart McLoughlin
    • Singing Man in Tube
    Nicholas Amer
    Nicholas Amer
    • Mr Elton
    Jorge Ojeda-Dávila
    • Man in Bunker Bed
    • (uncredited)
    Owen Thomas
    Owen Thomas
    • Caretaker
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • Terence Davies
    • Writers
      • Terence Rattigan
      • Terence Davies
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews105

    6.217.2K
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    Featured reviews

    8synevy

    Wonderful drama

    The Deep Blue Sea is a dramatic romance which takes place around the post-war (WWII) period where the young wife of a British judge starts having a love affair with a royal air force pilot. The confusion and complexity or their situation puts their love into some strong tests. Mostly for their own self-challenge. Rachel Weisz is mature and amazing as a leading actress, and then comes Tom Hiddleston who unveils a beautiful supporting performance and freshens up a little bit the foggy mood of the film.

    Terence meets Terence and a wonderful theatrical film comes to life. T. Davies wrote the screenplay and also directed the movie based on a love story play by T. Rattigan. The cinematography is absolutely theatrical. Feels like a never-ending stage. Therefore, expect some -not very long- slow scenes accompanied with instrumental classic music. The story leads you to expect and understand the outcome as it is.

    If you want to see a good drama, this romantic one may be it.
    7demystifield

    Weisz is phenomenal! Singlehandedly the best female acting performance in the last few years.

    Overindulgent and somewhat stuffy romantic drama that is saved single handedly by the Oscar caliber performance of Rachel Weisz, who gives a very complex and realistic look at a women whose self destructing over her choices in life in post war Britain in the 1950's. Weisz so good that she brings a lot of life into a somewhat lifeless screenplay that is more into atmosphere than substance. Both of her leading men are fine and lent great support to the vibrant Weisz, who is keeping this film afloat almost by herself while the movie gets a bit claustrophobic towards its climax. The film does have some great moments ( The pub scene and the intimate moment between Weisz and leading man Tom Hiddleston while dancing) but that's more the credit to Weisz and the cast than the film itself. Rachel Weisz has always been one of the most gifted and versatile actresses working today, not being afraid to do different characters and being unlikeable and raw in the process. In this film, she gives in my opinion the best female acting performance in the last few years, giving a complex and rich performance with a character that could have easily been botch by even a great actress, especially with a screenplay that is more into itself than the audience watching the movie. Weisz proves in this movie that she's more than a great actress, she proves that she is one of the best actresses we ever had.

    Her phenomenal performance alone is the real reason to see this movie.
    7EJverh

    The Beauty of Weisz

    Yes, the film is depressing. Yes, it is very long (or it feels rather longer than it is). But, it is good. After viewing it, I couldn't get it out of my mind. It's utterly haunting. There are many things that were less than great in this film. But I've narrowed it down to 1: The Pacing. If this one flaw were corrected, it would have made an excellent film. But, rather than focusing on the negative, I will write about the positive aspects of this particular movie. First, the cinematography is excellent. Those ultra-saturated colors serve the film and the period which it represents very well. I've covered the editing (in the negative) but I will say that there were some surprisingly beautiful camera movements in the piece, that were noticeable, yet served the mood of the story very well. However, if you ever see this film, I would recommend it for the wonderfully subtle performance of Rachel Weisz, who has grown into one of the best actors of her generation. Everything you need to know about the way her character is feeling is not always in the dialogue, but on her mesmerizing face. Weisz makes you not necessarily relate (it is, almost always un-relatable, because of the period and the character that she is playing), but she does make you care. There is no question that this is not a film for everyone. It is slow, it is internal, but it is also worth giving it a try. I moaned and complained all the way through, but in the end, I was unable to stop thinking about it. And, that alone is a testament to its power. It slowly gets under your skin, and you won't even notice it!
    9howardeisman

    Wonderful for the right audience

    i saw this with twenty something people. This was not a movie for them, but it is a most superior film for older people who have seen people live torturous lives. Why people do things that hurt themselves is a intriguing question which fascinates psychologists and artists alike. No one has come up with a satisfactory answer, not even a plausible one, and Freud leads the list of the clueless. Thus, Hester (played by a wonderful Rachel Weisz) can fascinate those of us who care about the inner working and emotional vicissitudes of a self destructive woman and who will learn about the human condition by considering her behavior. Simon Beale and Tom Hiddleston, the men in her life, are equally impressive performers playing equally limited (Beale) and troubled (Hiddleston) persons.

    First, I think most people don't know where the title comes from. A song popular during the second world war (a recent event in this film), has the line "we're caught between perdition and the deep blue sea." This is an apt description of the three protagonists.

    This film might be quite tedious for those in a hurry to move on with their lives. The three main characters are stuck and seem to have no capacity for getting unstuck. This is tough to contemplate if you can't wait for your tomorrow's great triumph, or if you see romance as a smooth road to your personal paradise.

    The rest of us are mesmerized as these troubled lives unfold on screen. Yes, the mood and physical atmosphere are almost relentlessly dark (it needn't have been); The film is completely without humor, and it is much too slow moving. These are minor difficulties. The script and performances are magnificent.
    7Milo_Milosovic

    Hmmmmm......

    I've been putting off review The Deep Blue Sea. Terrence Davies' remake of the 1950′s film based on the stage-play is a curious piece which I'm still struggling to get my head around.

    It's a strangely polarising beast which split me between annoyance and er enjoyance

    Here's the deal. On the one hand. It's a self-consciously old-fashioned portrayal of love and life in 1950′s London. Rachel Weiss plays Hester trapped in a flat and dull marriage she finds physical and emotional release in the arms of Freddie (played by Tom Hiddleston) a magnetic yet damaged WW2 pilot who is struggling to adjust to post-war life. The story is stylistic lavish with intimate set-pieces, evocative lighting and a mood of emotional frustration. What's not is as important as what is not said. There's evocations of Brief Encounter and Powell & Pressburger. An impressive meditation on love in all its forms and the damage it can cause.

    On the other hand. It's an out-dated throw-back from a director who is stuck in time with a Britain that never really existed. Pampered hoity-toity, plummy-types (Hester? Freddie? Oh, 'k off!) moping and whining while the salt of the earth "Cor Blimey" types are just busy getting by. Posh types mope. Look out of windows. Smoke. Mope a bit more. Look out of more windows. Have a bit of a row. Cry. Look out of even more windows. Gah! Hester treats her husband like rubbish. Freddie treats Hester like rubbish. Hester treats herself like rubbish. It's so mannered and drenched in stylistic devices and cinematic tropes that they become at best distracting, at worst like a cinema school project with a budget.

    So where does that leave us? Nostalgic meditation on love? Or stylised bore-fest of posh-types gagging for it? To be honest I'm still stuck between a rock and a hard place. Between, the devil and the . hmmm hang-on . it's suddenly occurred to me that maybe that's the point. Christ, I think I need to watch something stupid to clear my brain.

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    Related interests

    Mahershala Ali and Alex R. Hibbert in Moonlight (2016)
    Drama
    Ingrid Bergman and Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca (1942)
    Romance

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Terence Davies wanted Rachel Weisz for the part of Hester Collyer after he noticed her "incredible talent" in Swept from the Sea (1997), even though he hadn't heard of her before seeing that film. He called his agent and asked, "Have you ever heard of this girl Rachel Weisz?" His agent laughed and said, "She's an Oscar winner!" Weisz was amused by this and said, "I don't think Terence [Davies] knows very well anyone who's not in a black and white film."
    • Quotes

      Freddie Page: Let me give you a case: Jack loves Jill, Jill loves Jack. But Jack doesn't love Jill in the same way. Jack never asked to be loved.

      Hester Collyer: And what about Jill?

      Freddie Page: That's Jill's hard luck! I can't be bloody Romeo all the time!

    • Connections
      Featured in Maltin on Movies: The Watch (2012)
    • Soundtracks
      Concerto for Violin and Ochestra, Op. 14
      Composed by Samuel Barber

      Published by G. Schirmer, Inc (ASCAP)

      Performed by Hilary Hahn & The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra

      Conducted by Hugh Wolff

      Licensed courtesy of Sony Music Entertainment Inc.

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    FAQ20

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • November 25, 2011 (United Kingdom)
    • Countries of origin
      • United Kingdom
      • Australia
    • Official site
      • Music Box Films (United States)
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Dục Vọng Đàn Bà
    • Filming locations
      • Ye Old Mitre Pub - Ely Place, London, England, UK(pub scenes)
    • Production companies
      • Camberwell / Fly Films
      • Film4
      • UK Film Council
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $1,126,525
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $123,841
      • Mar 25, 2012
    • Gross worldwide
      • $3,143,514
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 1h 38m(98 min)
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby Digital
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

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