Product Details

• Actors: David Hockney, Peter Schlesinger (II), Celia Birtwell, Mo McDermott, Henry Geldzahler
• Directors: Jack Hazan
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: FIRST RUN FEATURES
• DVD Release Date: April 18, 2006
• Run Time: 105 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000E6ESQW
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #34,052 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "A Bigger Splash" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Review

An astute look at last ripple of the 'Swinging London' set. Lensed brilliantly. . .with style and taste. --Variety

Product Description

One of the strangest, most original and visually provocative films, A BIGGER SPLASH is a "captivating, shimmeringly beautiful" film (L.A. Times) featuring British artist David Hockney.
1971: David Hockney is well on his way to art world super-stardom. Filmmaker Jack Hazan, camera rolling, follows Hockney from London to New York to Los Angeles- capturing the artist as he struggles to create what would prove to be some of his most enduring works: those featuring Hockney's model and lover, Peter Schlesinger.
Straddling the boundary between documentary and fiction, A BIGGER SPLASH tells the story of Hockney's breakup with Schlesinger and its effect on Hockney, his work, and his close circle of friends. Originally banned for a notorious scene of homosexual intimacy, this award-winning film, "at once precise and dreamlike," is a unique document of a time and place, a lifestyle, and the artistic process, unlike anything made before or since.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful Art, April 29, 2006

By	B. Smith (Santa Cruz, CA, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Bigger Splash [VHS] (VHS Tape)

This movie is a visual delight. If the veiwer can ignore the sometimes self indulgent retelling of Hockney's love life, he/she will be impressed with the true magnificence of his work. Also worth a view for a glimpse of Patrick Procktor's painting. This movie is a must-see if you're an admirer of Hocknney's art: his life seems a manifestation of his art.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Some Insights into the Creative Process of David Hockney, August 7, 2006

By	Grady Harp (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Jack Hazan's quasi-documentary A BIGGER SPLASH is an unfocused examination about the creative life of David Hockney and supposedly about the effect of his past relationship with his pupil Peter Schlesinger (an artist, sculptor, and photographer who Hockney not only enjoyed as a lover but as a disciple). The précis appears to be that Hockney, in the throes of disappointment about the dissolution of his affair with Peter, decides to move to California where he has already been established as a painter of California people and places.

In London we meet his friends - Celia Birtwell, the elegantly stylishly beautiful model Hockney used repeatedly, dress designer Ossie Clark, confidant Mo McDermott, and patron Henry Geldzahler - each of whom Hockney painted and drew. We watch as Hockney visits the galleries and admires works of his friends, how he paints in his studio, how he relates to his gallerists (like Paul Kasmin), and how he perceives men and other artists.

Peter Schlesinger figures prominently in the film with many episodes of Peter's swimming in the pools of the people Hockney would eventually immortalize. He is a fine presence and carries his silent role well - almost appearing as a ghost muse that keeps Hockney focused on his now infamous swimming pool paintings.

The magic of this film, for those to whom Hockney is a well known and important painter, is the visual recreation of the paintings that have made him so famous: we are allowed to see Celia and her husband with white cat in context with the canvas, the view of Peter staring into the pool at an under water swimmer, the woman and her animal heads who appears in another of Hockney's famous paintings at poolside, etc. This kind of cinematic background is valuable now and will prove invaluable to the archives of David Hockney. For those people this is a must-see film, despite its meandering technique and choppy editing. For others, it may seem too self-indulgent. Grady Harp, August 06

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars non anamorphic hockney, May 13, 2006

By	B. Abel - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Bigger Splash [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Whilst the movie is a fascinating period piece, prospective buyers should be aware that it is a non anamorphic transfer which is unforgivable for a new release DVD in 2006.