PSA A Bigger Splash is on Netflix. I remember how alluring the ads were upon its release. But I was too young to see it then and sadly never got to before yesterday. It’s a very daring film for its time, very open about David Hockney’s break-up with Peter Schlesinger, lots of nudity, awkward sex, art-making, parties, even a drag Ms. World contest; a force field evoking the complex emotions that are enacted between that which is said and that which is felt. It’s full of sadness and longing, lots of young men in their prime frolicking together — eros made flesh — and how break-ups affect many more people than those directly involved. It’s also an essay film on a landmark painting, the creation of which, results in the emotional exorcism Hockney needs to keep on keeping on. I wish I’d seen it when younger.
José Arroyo
