Deep End is a strange concoction of a film. On one hand, it is a delightfully irreverent coming-of-age drama with broad overtures of comedy that help its message come across without much difficulty. On the other, it’s a challenging, provocative and incredibly psychological film that subverts many conventions in its path to go its own direction without becoming too revolutionary. Not a film that fits into any known category, being both inspired and repulsed by the wave of kitchen-sink realism that was sweeping across the cinematic landscape of the United Kingdom at the time, and employing a distinctly continental perspective (mostly due to the film being directed by a Polish filmmaker and filmed mainly in East Germany), Deep End is a fascinating specimen, and a film that continues to both bewilder and inspire viewers who venture into this story without much knowledge of what to expect. Jerzy Skolimowski really did incredibly well with this film, and put together one of the more captivating excursions into the human psychology that we saw come out of the 1970s, a decade where British cinema finally surrendered to the brutal realism that it had been flirting with for a few decades, and could not gradually start telling the stories, facilitated by the young, exciting directors who had their voices elevated by a new form of European filmmaking, where the smallest details of life were not neglected, but rather repurposed as the foundation of insightful looks into everyday existence, which is always a worthwhile endeavour when done with the right intentions and some degree of artistic integrity.

Primarily, Deep End can be seen as a coming-of-age story, albeit a very non-traditional one. One quality it shares with similarly-themed films is the concept of the story focusing on a protagonist getting some kind of education. In most cases, this takes the form of literal classroom-based learning, or exposure to the proverbial “school of life”, which governs the lives of many young people in their journey to adulthood. Deep End takes a very different approach to showing its protagonist learning about life, positioning the young and impressionable Mike as something of a hedonistic, jealous teenager who will do anything to get his way, even if it means invading the space of anyone he deems interesting enough to warrant his attention. Sexuality is a primary theme that pulsates throughout the film, and Skolimowski is certainly not trying to avoid some of these conversations, instead weaving them into the narrative in a way that feels both scandalous and oddly fascinating, since it paints a portrait of a young man coming into his own sexuality, even if it is through vaguely bizarre means. The film mercifully never crosses the boundary into debauchery – sex isn’t treated as something to hide, but rather a natural part of life, and even the main character’s encounter with a friendly prostitute is shown as being positive and even somewhat heartwarming. The director had a very distinct way of demonstrating Mike’s growth over these few weeks, and while the film may not be the definitive word on any of these ideas, since it is so adverse to traditions, its manner of deconstructing conventions means that it is never predictable, or even all that derivative, which is a wonderful change of pace for a film appearing in a genre known for following a relatively strict pattern.

However, Deep End is not a film that is content with stopping at the bare minimum – it might be having fun showing us a different side of the process of venturing towards adulthood, but this doesn’t mean it is only aiming for such surface-level discussions. Skolimowski sets off to make a profoundly meaningful film that presents us with a protagonist who could be plucked from any group of teenagers, and shows his experiences over a few weeks. While the combination of his lascivious schoolboy tendencies and innate curiosity towards a side of the world he has yet to encounter is thoroughly entertaining, the director is constantly provoking the material, in the hopes of uncovering some deeper meaning, a kind of method behind the madness. Deep End questions its main character’s intentions, and shows us his psychological processes in a way that we can relate to Mike, but only to a certain point, after which it becomes strangely dark, mainly when he stops resembling the happy-go-lucky teenager we have all encountered, and transforms into a more sinister, foreboding figure who is willing to sacrifice all of his morals for a few brief seconds of carnal satiation. Yet, the film is never reviling him for these tendencies – it doesn’t cross many sacrosanct boundaries (even if some of the material can be considered uncomfortable from modern standards, and its difficult to imagine such a film would play particularly well to contemporary audiences, which is part of its problem, as despite being a masterful drama, it is rather dated in its moral foundation), and while it may be disconcerting, this is all entirely by design, the work of a director who sought out the chance to tell a story of teenage lust through placing us in situations of profound unease and discomfort, from which there is some fascinating emotional conversations to be had – and the film certainly isn’t afraid to mine these narrative depths to find meaning behind an otherwise exuberant story of youthful desire.

Skolimowski’s approach to making this film is even more fascinating than the subject matter itself – anyone can easily make a charming coming-of-age drama about a young man trying to find his place in the world, but it takes a special kind of talent to turn it into something as unforgettable as this film. For the most part, Deep End is relatively straightforward – a series of interconnected vignettes all focused on the main character’s pursuit of his older co-worker, done through various attempts to sabotage her affairs with either her fiance or the philandering swimming coach with whom she is carrying out an elaborate affair. In all of these moments, the film feels profoundly modern-minded, and incredibly present – it never comes across exploitative, and even when it is deeply uncomfortable (such as in the sequences where we see the main character sexually harassed by a variety of older women, which are just as harrowing and disconcerting as they would be in reality), it is never played for laughs. Everything about this film comes about as a product of a director who had a firm grasp on reality, which made his exploration of these themes all the more enticing, since he deftly blends dreamlike imagery with hard-hitting drama, creating a gritty but poignant portrait of the experience of growing up in a time and place where it was essentially every man for himself – you weren’t able to get by on solely your charm and deportment, and it’s far more important to accustom yourself to the true nature of the world, which Skolimowski is always fiercely dedicated to exploring.

Deep End is a wonderfully fascinating film, but also one that takes a particular kind of effort to understand, since it isn’t as simple as it would appear on a cursory glance. The subject matter may be somewhat questionable – it takes a distinctly radical approach to representing sexual desire, and many moments in the film come across as somewhat clumsy and perhaps ill-conceived, but are not ever entirely exploitative, which makes the film profoundly valuable, since it looks at dominant perceptions of sexual and gender politics at the tail-end of the 1960s as this era moved into the next decade, and adopted new mentalities surrounding how society functions on the fundamental level. Yet, all of this is just additional commentary that comes from watching a film that takes a unique path in its endeavour to be a wholly original coming-of-age story, one that is simultaneously outrageously funny and deeply sad, with the oscillation between broad comedy and sincere melancholy making for a moving testament to the uncertainty of youth. Skolimowski was still relatively young at this point, so its certain that he was bringing some of his youthful candour to the film, and the combination of an achingly beautiful story about individuality (albeit one that has an intentionally jagged edge) and astonishing production design that evokes a world from the most unremarkable locations, all converge into Deep End, an astonishing achievement that takes some bold risks, and ends up being a charming comedy with a ton of dramatic depth.