A Bigger Splash

A true oddity that cannot escape its dated origins, A Bigger Splash is a fictional film in which all the actors play themselves. David Hockney is a gay painter unable to work when he breaks up with a boyfriend, leading his friends and his art dealer to worry about him. Eventually, Hockney begins a new painting, using a swimming pool as a canvas, in which he draws a picture of a man floating in the pool while his lover stands outside and stares. Made in 1974 but unreleased until a decade later, A Bigger Splash paints a vivid picture of the Swinging London art and gay scenes of the early 1970s.