The Deep Blue Sea is the 2011
film adaptation of the 1952 Terence Rattigan play. On the surface, this is a
gloomy but now conventional story following the aftermath of bored housewife Hester,
played by Rachel Weisz, deserting her husband for a man who will never love her.
The dull husband, played by Simon Beale, has a decency which forces us to
challenge Hester’s decision, but the film’s real power flows from the heroine’s
tragic insight – she knows the romance will fail from the very beginning.
One of the most interesting aspects of the film is its bleak depiction
of post-war London. Attention focuses on the working class squalor of bombed
out London, which gels perfectly if starkly with the film’s darker themes;
however, the scenes in London pubs, each one a rowdy, drinking choir, reminds
us of what was lost when jukeboxes and televisions became pub fixtures. Much
maligned karaoke nights may be a snugger fit within the British social
landscape than we usually imagine. Hester’s naive ecstasy when trying to join
the singing without knowing the words is exceptionally moving.
