#scott mcgehee

[scenesandscreens]

Suture (1993)

Directed by Scott McGehee & David Siegel, Cinematography by Greg Gardiner

"You buried the wrong soul."

[thishadoscarbuzz]

349 - The Deep End (with Bobby Finger!)

We're thrilled to welcome back author and Who? Weekly co-host Bobby Finger this week to talk about a fun modest thriller that helped turn one of our favorites into an industry darling. In 2001, director duo Scott McGehee and David Siegel brought thriller adaptation The Deep End to Sundance starring queer art cinema icon Tilda Swinton. As a mother who goes to great lengths to protect her closeted teenage son who she suspects of murdering his older lover, Swinton is a revelation and perhaps gave the first signs that she was at home in traditional fare as she was in the avant garde.

This episode, we talk about our love for Swinton and she joins our Six Timers Club. We also talk about the wide-reaching but under-discussed filmography of McGehee/Siegel, Goran Visnjic's moment in time, and Lake Tahoe as a thriller vibe.

Topics also include Joe's ABC era, our favorite Tilda performances, and the 2001 Best Actress race.

The 2001 Academy Awards

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[sloshed-cinema]

The Deep End (2001)

I need to find myself a fixer-upper of a mob boss enforcer. The Deep End chronicles the lengths that one woman would go to in the name of preserving her family’s safety and her son’s innocence. Beau Hall is testing the waters in more than just the usual older teenage ways: he’s having a dalliance with an older man, and was previously involved in a drunk driving collision. So when Margaret discovers that her son’s latest encounter with boyfriend Darby Reese took a turn for the deadly, her only option is to hide the body. This does not go very well, and soon enough Alek Spera is knocking on Margaret’s door with a blackmail tape implicating her son and a demand for $50,000. But Alek isn’t just your average meathead out for cash, damn the rest. No, he comes to appreciate the difficulties faced by Margaret in this impossible situation. How is she supposed to withdraw 50 grand in cash on short notice AND juggle her kids’ after school activities? How very live laugh love of Alek. He even knows CPR! Or some approximation of CPR technique at least; the fact that father in law Jack survived his heart attack is frankly a miracle. All of this to say, Alek is a real keeper and maybe Margaret should ditch her hubby on a boat in the North Atlantic for this hottie—oh wait I guess he’s just dead now. For while Tilda Swinton finds anxiety and grounding in her portrayal of Margaret and the dynamic of Alek is certainly an interesting one in this sort of story, there is a cheesiness that bubbles up now and again, climaxing with their tearful goodbyes after another car accident. It’s really putting itself out there, but this might not want to give up its water wings and try swimming on its own just yet.

Given the watery implications of the inciting incident, the aesthetic of The Deep End is a strongly aquatic one. Pool water blue defines a number of the transitions between scenes, established in Margaret’s opening venture to the nightclub where Darby works in an effort to put him off Beau. Water is omnipresent in this lakeside community: younger son Dylan is introduced cleaning out an aquarium tank and Jack suffers his coronary while carrying large water jugs. Margaret’s reflection is captured in the drip of a sink faucet, and of course Darby finds a watery grave as his final resting place, even if it isn’t too long before he is discovered. Just as guilt or fear over discovery haunts someone like Margaret after they’ve committed or covered up a horrible act, the constant presence of water seems to be a lingering reminder of this, taunting and needling.

THE RULES

SIP

Someone starts to type an email.

Someone dives underwater.

Tilda's accent slips.

BIG DRINK

Beau is suspicious of his mother.

Long cross-fade in the edit.

[fukutomichi]

- Favorite Film Gems - "You know what the final circle of hell is? The very bottom of the pit? It's reserved for the...betrayers of special relationships. Like, community...Kin" Montana Story (2021) directed by Scott McGehee & David Siegel

[artfilmfan]

Montana Story (David Siegel & Scott McGehee, 2021)

[filmpenance]

Suture (1993)

Scott McGehee & David Siegel 1h 36m [What? Wednesday - Day 7, 2024]

"I'm a very wealthy man, expensive things all around me, and I am forced to protect what's mine against the people who might feed off my privilege, feed off what doesn't belong to them." - Vincent Towers

Clay has just met his brother Vincent at their father's funeral. Vincent (Michael Harris) is aloof and suspicious toward Clay, despite his welcoming words and Clay (Dennis Haysbert) lets him know he's not after any money.

What's more, they're both shaken by the striking resemblance between them. It's like being in a dream where you don't know who you are anymore.

Clay doesn't know that Vincent needs to elude the police and he plans on killing his brother to do it.

Surviving attempted murder, Clay wakes up in hospital with amnesia, with every person telling him he's Vincent. With no memory of his own, his life seeps into his brother's existence.

So much of who we can say we are is bound up in who will vouch for us. Existence is the testimony of others.

Shot beautifully in black and white, with classic crisp production design and sweeping camera work, the film brings you into it's world. The clever use of opera betrays the passion beneath the facades.

Suture is a film noir dream of brotherhood and identity*.

Highly Recommended

Film Pairings: Get Out, The Third Man, The Man Who Wasn't There

TRAILER:

* Race, gender and class.

[clemsfilmdiary]

Suture (1993, Scott McGehee, David Siegel)

4/8/22

[screenzealots]

"Montana Story"

This understated character study about damaged people and broken relationships is painful, touching, and emotionally powerful, from its restrained beginning to its most forceful final blow.

“Montana Story” is a western where the sweeping scenery and shots of the vast, dusty landscape aren’t the star, but the family drama is. The visuals are absolutely stunning, but it’s the story that affected me on a deep level. This understated character study is painful, touching, and emotionally powerful, from its restrained beginning to its most forceful final blow. Cal (Owen Teague) has…

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