A Bigger Splash
UW Cinematheque 821 University Ave., UW Vilas Hall, Room 4070, Madison, Wisconsin
press release: UK | 1973 | DCP | 106 min.
Director: Jack Hazan
Filmed between 1971 and 1973, A Bigger Splash captures the established painter David Hockney as he struggles to produce work for a NY show and overcome the end of his relationship with longtime lover, Peter Schlesinger. Shuttling back and forth in time, director Hazan depicts the decisive end to the Swinging London Youthquake where the no-longer young artist Hockney first found fame. “A glimpse, unequalled in its intimacy, of [Hockney’s] search for a reflection in the pools that he paints” (Alexander Walker, London Evening Standard). “A synthesis of documentary, cinema verite and psychodrama that’s entirely original, and as engrossing as the watcher wants it to be” (Derek Malcolm, Arts Guardian). A new 4K restoration will be screened.
New Restorations: From the ridiculous (the Marx Bros.’ Horse Feathers) to the sublime (Claude Berri’s moving The Two of Us), our August-December calendar features more than a half dozen other programs of digital restorations not already included in one of our other series. A selection of features and documentaries from around the world and throughout cinema history, the highlight of this series will be an October 31 program of silent movies curated by The New York Times' film critic Mahohla Dargis.