# Deep End (1970 film)
**Deep End** is a 1970 drama film directed by Jerzy Skolimowski, in which a teenage swimming-baths attendant becomes obsessed with his older female co-worker, with tragic results. A co-production of [West Germany](https://www.edgepedia.org/west-germany) and the United Kingdom set in London but principally shot in Munich, it stars [Jane Asher](https://www.edgepedia.org/jane-asher) and John Moulder-Brown, with a soundtrack by [Cat Stevens](https://www.edgepedia.org/cat-stevens) and the German band Can.[1](https://www.bfi.org.uk/film/1e3539fa-b8d1-55f3-840c-79ef909b90f6/deep-end) • [2](https://iffr.com/en/iffr/2009/films/deep-end)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director and writers | Jerzy Skolimowski; screenplay by Skolimowski, Jerzy Gruza, and Boleslaw Sulik[1](https://www.bfi.org.uk/film/1e3539fa-b8d1-55f3-840c-79ef909b90f6/deep-end) |
| Production | German-UK co-production (Maran-Film, Kettledrum Productions); producer Helmut Jedele; set in London, principally shot in Munich[1](https://www.bfi.org.uk/film/1e3539fa-b8d1-55f3-840c-79ef909b90f6/deep-end) • [2](https://iffr.com/en/iffr/2009/films/deep-end) |
| Cast | Jane Asher (Susan), John Moulder-Brown (Mike), Karl-Michael Vogler, Diana Dors in a cameo[1](https://www.bfi.org.uk/film/1e3539fa-b8d1-55f3-840c-79ef909b90f6/deep-end) |
| Running time | 88 minutes (BFI); other prints and listings give 90 to 92 minutes[1](https://www.bfi.org.uk/film/1e3539fa-b8d1-55f3-840c-79ef909b90f6/deep-end) • [3](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/401174/) |
| Music | Cat Stevens and Can; cinematography by Charly Steinberger[2](https://iffr.com/en/iffr/2009/films/deep-end) |
| Release | Italy 1 September 1970; UK 20 November 1970; West Germany 20 April 1971[3](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/401174/) |
| Later history | Intermittently available after 1971 because of rights issues; restored and released on DVD by the British Film Institute in 2011[4](https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/film/deep-end-1.564525) • [5](https://www.criticsatlarge.ca/2016/02/neglected-gem-90-deep-end-1970.html) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
Mike, a 15-year-old from a working-class family, takes a job at a run-down public swimming baths in Fulham, London, after finishing school.[2](https://iffr.com/en/iffr/2009/films/deep-end) There he meets Susan, an attendant slightly older than him who has worked at the baths for several years, and his interest turns into obsession, which Susan tries to manipulate to her advantage; the story ends in tragedy for both characters.[2](https://iffr.com/en/iffr/2009/films/deep-end) Susan has a fiancé, and Mike does his best to sabotage the relationship, to the extent of stalking both her and her fiancé.[3](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/401174/)
Mike's job includes collecting tips for the "special services" he is expected to perform for middle-aged female clients, among them a client played by [Diana Dors](https://www.edgepedia.org/diana-dors) in what the BFI calls an unforgettable cameo appearance.[1](https://www.bfi.org.uk/film/1e3539fa-b8d1-55f3-840c-79ef909b90f6/deep-end) The action moves between the grimy interiors of the bath house and the late-night streets of Soho.[1](https://www.bfi.org.uk/film/1e3539fa-b8d1-55f3-840c-79ef909b90f6/deep-end) A central sequence follows the loss of the stone from Susan's engagement ring in the snow: Mike and Susan collect likely snow in plastic bags, take it to the closed baths, and melt it in the drained pool with an [electric kettle](https://www.edgepedia.org/electric-kettle) in an attempt to isolate the diamond.[6](https://bfidatadigipres.github.io/outsiders%20and%20exiles%3Cbr%3Ethe%20films%20of%20jerzy%20skolimowski/2023/04/02/deep-end/) The film culminates in the pool's deep end, where Mike kills Susan without meaning to.[7](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/deep-end-1971)
### Interpretation
Critics have read the film as a comment on England's economic and political decline, though Skolimowski told one interviewer, "It was not any kind of criticism of anything."[4](https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/film/deep-end-1.564525) A 2026 book chapter by David Wilkinson argues that the film critiques youthful alienation, consumerism, and sexism while questioning the myth of 1960s sexual liberation, and notes that its themes continue to resonate amid increasingly commodified sexual desire.[13](https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/lets-spend-the-night-together/everything-gets-boring-after-a-time-deep-end-and-swinging-sex/671F974599A54A7F9372548959AE8423) The IFFR essay places it within Skolimowski's recurring theme, seen earlier in *Le départ* (1966), that consumption governs the lives of Westerners.[2](https://iffr.com/en/iffr/2009/films/deep-end)
## Production
Skolimowski had co-written [Roman Polanski](https://www.edgepedia.org/roman-polanski)'s *Knife in the Water* (1962) and directed politically engaged films in his native Poland before coming to Britain in the mid-1960s.[1](https://www.bfi.org.uk/film/1e3539fa-b8d1-55f3-840c-79ef909b90f6/deep-end) His anti-Stalinist *Hands Up!* (1967) resulted in his exile from Communist Poland, and *Deep End* reflects his transition to a new cultural and cinematic landscape.[8](https://www.screenslate.com/articles/deep-end) After adapting Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's *The Adventures of Gerard*, also released in 1970, this marked the first time he made an English-language film from a screenplay concept he had originated himself.[8](https://www.screenslate.com/articles/deep-end)
Although the film is set in London, it was principally shot in Munich.[1](https://www.bfi.org.uk/film/1e3539fa-b8d1-55f3-840c-79ef909b90f6/deep-end) The International Film Festival Rotterdam account states that the England of the film "was, in fact, constructed in Hamburg".[2](https://iffr.com/en/iffr/2009/films/deep-end) The bath house location in London was a place in [Leytonstone](https://www.edgepedia.org/leytonstone), "all echoes and jaded tile", according to critic David Thomson.[6](https://bfidatadigipres.github.io/outsiders%20and%20exiles%3Cbr%3Ethe%20films%20of%20jerzy%20skolimowski/2023/04/02/deep-end/) The dialogue was largely improvised against a brief story outline, and Charly Steinberger's hand-held photography was used consistently.[2](https://iffr.com/en/iffr/2009/films/deep-end) • [9](https://files.ehive.com/accounts/202990/objects/files/a12633ad9fba43d08ae5f60906352db7.pdf) Skolimowski appears uncredited as a man on the Underground reading a Polish newspaper.[6](https://bfidatadigipres.github.io/outsiders%20and%20exiles%3Cbr%3Ethe%20films%20of%20jerzy%20skolimowski/2023/04/02/deep-end/)
## Style and music
The film combines an absurdist sensibility, uninhibited performances, and a heightened use of color, in Ryan Gilbey's Guardian description of it as "a defining British work, as well as one of the most acute screen portraits of London".[1](https://www.bfi.org.uk/film/1e3539fa-b8d1-55f3-840c-79ef909b90f6/deep-end) Susan's yellow raincoat and white boots stand out against the muted bathhouse, and recurring splashes of red paint hint at danger and desire.[8](https://www.screenslate.com/articles/deep-end) The soundtrack features Cat Stevens, whose song "But I'm Might Die Tonight" from *[Tea for the Tillerman](https://www.edgepedia.org/tea-for-the-tillerman)* (1971) recurs at unexpected points, and the German band Can, whose "Mother Sky" drives the Soho sequence.[5](https://www.criticsatlarge.ca/2016/02/neglected-gem-90-deep-end-1970.html) • [8](https://www.screenslate.com/articles/deep-end)
The film is often placed in the context of the "Swinging London" films, catching the pleasures and dangers of living in the city at the end of the 1960s.[2](https://iffr.com/en/iffr/2009/films/deep-end) Philip French called it "a bizarre coda to the swinging 60s".[10](https://www.theguardian.com/film/movie/77888/deep-end) Jane Asher, cast as Susan, was at the time one of the symbols of Swinging London.[2](https://iffr.com/en/iffr/2009/films/deep-end)
## Release and reception
The film premiered in Italy on 1 September 1970 and opened in the United Kingdom on 20 November 1970; West Germany followed on 20 April 1971.[3](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/401174/) In the United States it failed to find an audience in the summer of 1971, and Paramount gave up on it as a headliner, running it as a double feature in support of Lewis Gilbert's *Friends*.[11](https://www.tcm.com/articles/258703/the-gist-deep-end-the-gist) Critical responses were encouraging: David Thomson called it "funny, touching, sexy, surreal, and tragic - all at the same time", and [Pauline Kael](https://www.edgepedia.org/pauline-kael) was supportive.[11](https://www.tcm.com/articles/258703/the-gist-deep-end-the-gist) Roger Ebert's 1971 review gave the film a mixed verdict, arguing that it "deserves a better ending" than the death in the pool.[7](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/deep-end-1971)
Asher received a BAFTA nomination as supporting actress, losing to [Margaret Leighton](https://www.edgepedia.org/margaret-leighton) for *The Go-Between*.[6](https://bfidatadigipres.github.io/outsiders%20and%20exiles%3Cbr%3Ethe%20films%20of%20jerzy%20skolimowski/2023/04/02/deep-end/) Because of rights issues common to international co-productions, the film was only intermittently available after its 1971 release.[4](https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/film/deep-end-1.564525) Danny Peary included it in his 1980 compendium *Cult Movies*, and in 2011 the [British Film Institute](https://www.edgepedia.org/british-film-institute) issued a restoration, a ceremonial screening, and a DVD release.[5](https://www.criticsatlarge.ca/2016/02/neglected-gem-90-deep-end-1970.html) On IMDb the film holds a rating of 7.1/10 from about 8,900 users.[12](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066122/ratings/)
## References
1. [Deep End (1970), BFI](https://www.bfi.org.uk/film/1e3539fa-b8d1-55f3-840c-79ef909b90f6/deep-end)
2. [Deep End, International Film Festival Rotterdam](https://iffr.com/en/iffr/2009/films/deep-end)
3. [Deep End, Cineuropa](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/401174/)
4. [Deep End, The Irish Times (6 May 2011)](https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/film/deep-end-1.564525)
5. [Neglected Gem #90: Deep End (1970), Critics At Large](https://www.criticsatlarge.ca/2016/02/neglected-gem-90-deep-end-1970.html)
6. [Deep End, BFI Southbank programme notes (David Thomson)](https://bfidatadigipres.github.io/outsiders%20and%20exiles%3Cbr%3Ethe%20films%20of%20jerzy%20skolimowski/2023/04/02/deep-end/)
7. [Deep End movie review, RogerEbert.com (1 December 1971)](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/deep-end-1971)
8. [Deep End, Screen Slate (17 March 2025)](https://www.screenslate.com/articles/deep-end)
9. [Deep End festival notes, ehive PDF](https://files.ehive.com/accounts/202990/objects/files/a12633ad9fba43d08ae5f60906352db7.pdf)
10. [Deep End, The Guardian (Philip French)](https://www.theguardian.com/film/movie/77888/deep-end)
11. [The Gist (Deep End), Turner Classic Movies](https://www.tcm.com/articles/258703/the-gist-deep-end-the-gist)
12. [Deep End (1970) Ratings, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066122/ratings/)
13. [David Wilkinson, "'Everything gets boring after a time': Deep End and swinging sex", Manchester University Press (2026)](https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/lets-spend-the-night-together/everything-gets-boring-after-a-time-deep-end-and-swinging-sex/671F974599A54A7F9372548959AE8423)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Coming-of-age films › Coming-of-age films released before 2000*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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