SPLASH
US, 1984, 111 minutes, Colour.
Tom Hanks, Daryl Hannah, Eugene Levy, John Candy, Richard B. Shull, Bobby di Cicco, Howard Morris.
Directed by Ron Howard.
Splash was very popular on its first release. It is a contemporary fairy tale – a plot about a mermaid which was used previously in two British films, Miranda and Mad About Men, with Glynis Johns as a mermaid.
Tom Hanks fell into the sea when he was a young boy on holidays. He returns to the scene as an adult – and falls into the sea again. Each time he is rescued by Madison, a mermaid. When she is dry, she has legs and decides to go to New York to find him. It is a romantic love affair – with Madison trying to keep the information that she is a mermaid quiet. There is amusing support from Eugene Levy and John Candy.
The film is an early directorial effort by Ron Howard. He had made Night Shift with Henry Winkler and introducing Michael Keaton. Howard was to go on for several decades becoming an even more respectable director as time went on with a wide range of films in many genres. Included in these films are Parenthood, Backdraft, Willow. In the 90s he made The Paper, Far and Away and Apollo 13. He won an Oscar for A Beautiful Mind in 2001 and went on to direct The Missing, Cinderella Man and, most famously, The Da Vinci Code.
1. A pleasant romantic comedy? Contemporary fairy tale? The attraction of mermaid stories?
2. A Disney production - geared towards adults and adolescents? Contemporary tone? The self-conscious daring (touches of nudity, swearing, free relationships)?
3. New York locations, Cape Cod (and the use of the Bahamas)? A city romance? The commercial world of shops, television - and the send-ups? The focus on science and experimentation? Car chases? A contemporary blend for entertainment? The songs - and the finale with Rita Coolidge?
4. Love stories and romances - popular elements, irony? The ending with the focus on the rat-race - and an opting out alternative?
5. The prologue in black and white. Cape Cod, the '60s. the families? Alan alone? Freddie and his dropping the coins to pick them up and look up the girls' dresses? Alan going overboard, the encounter with the little girl mermaid? His being rescued? A dream for Alan? The tone for the film?
6. Alan and the '80s, busy, the phone calls from Victoria and her leaving him, his being upset, angry at the wedding and shouting at the guests? His work, the deals? The frantic shouting, the bad cherries etc.? The exasperation with his brother? A lonely, frantic romantic?
7. The contrast with Freddie and his size. boorish manner, sense of humour, many times married. crude. the letter in 'Penthouse', his deals and gambling? Affection for his brother, pushing him around? And still dropping the coins!
8. The world of the markets, deals? The absent-minded secretary and her humour?
9. Cape Cod and Alan going back there, his drinking with his brother and the disappointment, seeing the couples in the bar, the taxi ride, the beach. the encounter with the scientists, Fat Jack and his boat (and the comedy of his diving overboard), getting the boat started, falling overboard, hitting his head, the vision of the mermaid. losing his wallet? His return (and the humour of the Vietnam injury and the big deal)? The police call. being reunited with the girl? Calling her Madison after Madison Avenue?
10. Daryl Hannah's style as Madison? A credible mermaid? Her rescuing Alan? Hiding in the bushes on the island? The audience seeing her legs and her fin? The emotional impact, the six days on Earth? The Statue of Liberty and her appearing nude? The reaction of the police? Alan taking her home? The relationship? Her going shopping. clothes, make-up? Watching the television - and learning television commercial English? Exercises? Telling her dolphin name and breaking the TV sets? The lyrical romantic sequences? Her gaffes e.g. eating the lobster in the restaurant? Alan's proposal and her secret? Her wanting to talk at the President's Dinner? The scientists pursuing her to try to turn her into a fish again? Her guarding her secret from Alan e.g. when she took the bath? Turning into a mermaid? The tests and her suffering. the abrasions to her fins? The final rescue? Her going back into the water? A credible delightful mermaid?
11. Alan and the effect of the relationship, the gifts. sharing, the proposal, the reaction to the truth, his being tested, his rejection of her, low self-image, his brother reprimanding him, rescuing her. the final dilemma and his inability to go with her, the military pursuing., his diving in and opting out?
12. The life of the city, the shops, television, busyness, the markets?
13. Walter and his scientific investigations, his two helpers?
14. Slapstick and chase sequences?
15. An old style fairy tale of the prince rescuing the princess - modern style?
