appropriately postwar SPELLBOUND (1945) and continued with PSYCHO (1960), of course, while John Huston explored the origins of psychiatry as an opportunity for suspense and mystery in FREUD (1962). Other filmmakers, like Frank Perry in DAVID AND LISA (1962) or Robert Rossen in LILITH (1964), delved into individual cases under medical observation and explored the magnetic properties of psychosis and the derangement of the senses as unlikely terrain for romance, while Robert Aldrich’s WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE? (1963) and Mike Nichols’ film of Edward Albee’s play WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF? (1966) tore away the façade from do- mestic, suburban madness. By the time DEEP END appeared, when another war was at its height, audiences had come to accept that we were the real monsters of our horror show. DEEP END tells a fairly straightforward, believ- able story of first love and romantic fantasy’s in- evitable collision with reality. While it carefully takes us to points of no return where fantasy becomes psychosis, and where the refusal of fantasy to come true becomes dangerous, the route which it takes to get there is consistently
delightful in its quirkiness and the grace notes of its telling. Everyone met along the way seems to champion Mike and the direction his life is taking toward adulthood and responsibility, and to the very last, the very elements of his character that lay the groundwork for his downfall are curiously amiable and endearing. What remains brilliant, thrilling and unusually honest about DEEP END, after four decades as a fairly obscure cult favorite, is that it presents all of its characters in a seemingly upfront way, yet it continues to disclose additional information about them as one continues to explore the densely con- structed film over a long period of time. We’re encouraged to know these characters not only as they are presented on the surface, but as we come to know and understand people in real life, through serial observation. Speaking as someone who has known and loved this film for close to 40 years, I find it remarkable that each new viewing contin- ues to give me additional nuggets of information and insight. The characters continue to unfurl. Though it is not important to the story and re- mains a subliminal detail, one can see that the relationships of Susan and the married coach, and
Written under the title STARTING OUT, DEEP END documents some of the things that can go wrong as a young and unprepared teen embarks on adult responsibilities.
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