Deep End
Dir: Jerzy Skolimowski 
1970
****
Welcome to Jerzy Skolimowski's celluloid theatre. Deep End is British cult cinema at it's finest. Why is it a cult you ask? Because it's really good and no one has seen it. Maybe it has been judged by its budget, the terrible dubbing is a distraction at first but I soon warmed to it as a bit of nostalgia. The humour is subtle as is the symbolism, there are no double entendres or tits and arse jokes here, which you'd be forgiven to expect. This isn't Confessions or a Carry On film, this visually compelling rites of passage is almost operatic, an opera that represents the non-swinging youth associated with the time, the almost psychosexual murmurings of adolescence, the less obvious British humour of the time (Burt Kwouk's Hot Dog seller scene), all set in the real 60s/70s London and not the one people falsely remember. I believe the inclusion of the late great Diana Dors is a cheeky but respectful reference to the style of comedy that predates it and a statement that this is a new wave of film making. It was too, however every style has it's day and this too is now dated but it is an exceptional example of alternative cinema of the day, the likes of which has had huge influence but will never really see the light of day again.