A Bigger Splash

Released Oct 3, 1974

1h 41m

Documentary

List

100%

Tomatometer

11 Reviews

40%

Popcornmeter

100+ Ratings

When David Hockney's beautiful lover, Peter Schlesinger, breaks up with him, it leaves David a complete emotional wreck. An artist, he suddenly finds himself unable to create anything, and is awash in depression and loneliness. After a time, David is able to find inspiration in his backyard swimming pool, and he begins a portrait of it. This unique docudrama presents a semi-fictionalized account of the story behind one of Hockney's most popular paintings.

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Peter Rainer

FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)

It's an interesting movie for David Hockney completists.

Oct 2, 2019

Full Review

Robert Abele

Los Angeles Times

"A Bigger Splash" remains one of the more uniquely hypnotic movies about the connection between presented life and pulsating art.

Jul 18, 2019

Full Review

Glenn Kenny

RogerEbert.com

This unusual and sometimes unsettling film is a kind of staged documentary that could not have been made without the cooperation of people who were going though genuine challenges in their life at the time.

Rated: 4/4

Jun 21, 2019

Full Review

David Holland

Gay Community News (Boston)

It is, for those who delight in peeking into the lives of the chic art-world, a monumental work.

Sep 13, 2022

Full Review

Jason Adams

My New Plaid Pants

We watch his canvas brought to motion before us, rippling pool tops and splashing bare asses in the sun - the paintings surround us, the sense of Hockney's being surrounds us

Jul 2, 2021

Full Review

Justine Smith

Hyperallergic

It is a film that seems to externalize David Hockney's erotic imagination and the anxiety that comes with it.

Feb 26, 2020

Full Review

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Jens B

I never felt closer to experiencing what it is like being an artist. The creation scenes feel are profound. Art and reality dissolve into each other. A perfect (and unexpectedly sexy) summer movie!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

06/29/24

Full Review

Audience Member

No plot and nonsensical dialogue.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

02/05/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Seemed like it had potential, but it just dragged on and the story line was predictable and expected. Very disappointed, but Ralph had a solid performance despite. Still don't see this. Ever.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

01/25/23

Full Review

Audience Member

what a strange thing this was to find. verite with surrealist digressions. Hockney is interesting and insightful, unsurprisingly. even amid all the staged silence and introverted posing. definitely worth seeing if interested in the artwork and the beautiful portraits of London and New York in the early 70s. (including interiors and underground night life)

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/30/23

Full Review

Audience Member

There can't be many people who are familiar with the friends and colleagues who surrounded David Hockney in the early '70s when this film was shot. (Perhaps there is a decent bio of the artist.) I chose the film based on a casual interest in Hockney as a well-known gay artist. And it's certainly informative about Hockney's process and it's very strong showing the real-world influences, the people and places, that make their way into his art. And, one more plus, it's very homoerotic. On the downside it tends toward the opaque in terms of what & who it chooses to show at any given time & it's painfully fragmented. It's a goofy movie but I think an honest one.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/01/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Basically a cinematic homage to the painter David Hockney.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/25/23

Full Review

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Jack Hazan

Director

David Hockney

Self

Peter Schlesinger

Self

Ossie Clark

Dress Designer

Celia Birtwell

Self

Mo McDermott

Friend

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Synopsis

When David Hockney's beautiful lover, Peter Schlesinger, breaks up with him, it leaves David a complete emotional wreck. An artist, he suddenly finds himself unable to create anything, and is awash in depression and loneliness. After a time, David is able to find inspiration in his backyard swimming pool, and he begins a portrait of it. This unique docudrama presents a semi-fictionalized account of the story behind one of Hockney's most popular paintings.

Director: Jack Hazan
Producer: Jack Hazan, Mike Kaplan
Screenwriter: Jack Hazan, David Mingay
Distributor: New Line Cinema, Direct Cinema Limited
Genre: Documentary
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 3, 1974, Original
Rerelease Date (Theaters): Jun 21, 2019
Release Date (Streaming): Jul 26, 2020
Box Office (Gross USA): $44.3K
Runtime: 1h 41m
Sound Mix: Mono

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