It's tempting to see "Diversion" as a situation waiting to be developed into a full-length story. Unlike the lurid melodrama of "Fatal Attraction", this is a low-key marital drama. There's no revenge and no bunny-boiling. The husband is tempted into an extra-marital fling, but his casual pick-up assumes it's something more. A problem has arisen, but the film ends with a question mark. It's beautifully done by all concerned and perfectly cast. It's much fairer than "Fatal Attraction" about the unspoken sexual contract between men and women. The mistress is not the devil incarnate made famous by Glenn Close. Writer-director James Dearden has spoken about his dissatisfaction with the Close character. He attempted to redress the balance in his recent stage adaptation, not a success. I'm told by the person who lent me a DVD that it's possible only one print of "Diversion" survived after the Paramount purge mentioned elsewhere here. Allegedly Dearden himself has it.
Review of Diversion
Diversion
(1979)
The inspiration for "Fatal Attraction" well worth seeing
9 July 2014
Warning: Spoilers