Making a Splash

A commission for UK's Channel 4, you could say this was a sort of trial run for Greenaway's Prospero's Books which features a similar use of water images at times. Well shot on Super 16mm and without any of Greenaway's signature obsessions with bodily decay or highly obscure literary references that might turn the average viewer off, this could be one of his most accessible pieces. It's a 25 min musical mostly set in a swimming pool filled with children then adults then a troupe of synchronized swimmers. There is a brief bit of nudity in the middle of the piece but as in most other Greenaway films it's like seeing a nude sculpture in the art museum. The film is quite good until the last 8 minutes where it seems the filmmakers ran out of steam but fortunately there's the synchronized water dancing and the great music at this point.

This is probably the only place that Michael Nyman's excellent work "Water Dances" can be heard in it's entirety. For some reason, Nyman has never made this recording available on CD or rerecorded the full work although he's done some very good excerpts of it. The CD, "The Kiss and other movements" contains a version of the music that seems to use the same musicians as the recording for this film. This also could be the only time that Nyman has used a drum set in his music (just at the very end). He has wisely avoided that since.

Strangely unavailable except in Japan.

Undoubtedly ranks among James Cameron's favourite short films.

Stick with this until the final 6 or 7 minutes. It's nice enough until then, but the climax - if you can call it that - is something else, especially with that music. Michael Nyman and Peter Greenaway combined can seemingly do no wrong, and the beautiful music of the former paired with the eccentric craft of the latter can make even Making A Splash - which is a wordless documentary that's largely just made up of people swimming - weirdly engaging.

It's hard to describe what made it work for me, and it probably won't work for everyone, but it's a 25-minute trip worth taking, in my eyes.