Terence Davies' drama The Deep Blue Sea will close this year's London Film Festival on October.
Set in post-war Britain, Davies' adaptation of Terence Rattigan’s classic play is a study of forbidden love, suppressed desire, and the fear of loneliness.
Hester Collyer (Rachel Weisz) leads a privileged life in 1950s London as the beautiful wife of high court judge Sir William Collyer (Simon Russell Beale). To the shock of those around her, she walks out on her marriage to move in with young ex-RAF pilot, Freddie Page (Tom Hiddleston), with whom she has fallen passionately in love.
Artistic director Sandra Hebron said: “It’s a great pleasure to be able to close the Festival with this exquisite new feature from one of our most cherished directors. Terence Davies is a film maker whom the BFI has supported from the very beginnings of his career, and in Terence Rattigan’s centenary year, this beautifully directed and acted film is the perfect closing night film.”
The film's producers Sean O’Connor and Kate Ogborn said: “It's very much a London-based film, so it feels just right for the film's first UK outing to be at this wonderful festival. It’s a particular pleasure for us to introduce a new film by Terence Davis - returning to the period and themes of his most celebrated work. All in all, for many reasons, it feels like coming home."
Director Terence Davies added: “As a British filmmaker, to get into the BFI London Film Festival at all is bliss - to get a Closing Night film is sheer heaven! The Festival is now, rightly, seen as one of the major European and World Film Festivals; championing not only British but World cinema."
The Deep Blue Sea opens in UK cinemas on November 25. You can read our full coverage of previous festivals here.
