Polish director Jerzy Skolimowski’s (opens in a new tab) Deep End (opens in a new tab) is one of those films that leaves a lasting impression on anyone who sees it, but it was sadly considered to be a ‘lost’ film for many years and was practically impossible to see after its initial cinema opening in a handful of countries. The film was briefly available on VHS in the UK but was never released on DVD. In 2011 the BFI (opens in a new tab) restored and re-released it at the cinema and also issued a blu-ray version complete with several extras, which is utterly superb and well worth picking up.

The film focuses on Mike (John Moulder-Brown (opens in a new tab)) a teenager who leaves school and gets his first job working at a local swimming baths. There he meets Susan (Jane Asher (opens in a new tab)) an older woman with whom he quickly becomes infatuated. Without spoiling things too much, the film builds to a fairly shocking climax which has been known to polarize viewers. Jane Asher looks absolutely stunning and really plays the seductive, care-free Susan perfectly – it’s not hard to understand the reasons behind Mike’s infatuation!

Skolimowski was a contemporary of Roman Polanski (opens in a new tab) and was mentored by the great Polish director Andrzej Wajda (opens in a new tab). He completed several films in Poland throughout the 1960s before moving to the UK where he made Deep End and a couple of other features. He then left to Los Angeles where he took up painting and occasionally acted in films, notably in White Knights (opens in a new tab) and more recently in David Cronenberg’s Eastern Promises (opens in a new tab). His 17 year hiatus from directing ended in 2008 with the release of Four Nights with Anna (opens in a new tab) and he made the spartan thriller Essential Killing (opens in a new tab) with Vincent Gallo in 2010.

This poster by an unknown graphic designer is the quad that was printed when the film was given a wider UK release. The premiere showing had actually been at the Academy Cinema One on London’s Oxford Street and the poster for this was done by the legendary designer Peter Strausfeld (opens in a new tab) (his Seven Samurai poster is on this site).

The original trailer is on YouTube (opens in a new tab).