Sommer 85

I've seen a lot of 'gay' movies and a lot of coming of age movies and a lot of movies that combine both, but it is rare to see this in such great quality. The story hasn't many surprising twists, but the movie doesn't need those. It is a story of all times, metoculously set in one specific time and told in a very skillfull and loving fashion.

The casting, acting, art-direction, all are superb and enticing. The young actors seem to have great carriers ahead.

Fine French filmmaker Francois Ozon (SWIMMING POOL) in a lower gear but still not without interest. As the title and poster may indicate, this is a memory film. A story about a fateful summer and a relationship that changes everything in a young person's life. Looks can be a bit deceiving, however, as there is more than hazy lazy nostalgia at play.

Based on a novel by Aidan Chambers ('Dance on my Grave') the couple are Alexis (Felix Lefebvre) and David (Benjamin Voisin) two handsome teens who meet by accident in a Normandy seaside village. David's mother (Valeria Bruni Tedeschi) also takes a liking to Alexis and invites him to work at her marine shop alongside her own son. The pair also meet up with a sprightly British au pair who strikes up a friendship with the two boys in order to improve her French!

Despite the sunny resort setting, the wistful period tunes by The Cure and Rod Stewart and the dreamy graininess of the 16mm film photography, Ozon (who also wrote the adaptation) never lets his film drift from it's serious themes of sexuality and responsibility. The small cast is very capable and the tone is consistent. Some of the writing isn't as sharp as it could have been and the flashback structure does keep it from fully building any story momentum. While there is darkness, there is always a promise of optimism that that fateful summer will lead to something to look back on with a certain fondness.

I decided to watch the movie with mixed feelings. The plot seemed not intriguing enough, but Ozon's name is (or at least was) a certain guarantee. Alas, the disappointment prevailed. In 8 femmes, Ozon managed to keep an unforgiving and at the same time uncommenting eye into the human behavior. The behavior itself developed the characters, and brought them together into a whole. Eté 85 is a mixture of Ozon and a try to mimic Almadóvar's way of looking into tragedy, which unfortunately fails completely. The scenes are great, the actors true to their characters, but what comes out is a story swaying between a kitsch gay teenagers' love affair and a family drama. The ending is weird (I am referring to the court sentence), taking into account the fact that the subject of homosexuality was at the time socially unacceptable was extremely poorly part of the story to that point, with the exception of a vague reference to an uncle). None of the three main characters (Alexis, David and the mother, Mme Gorman) develop and their reactions throughout the film are irrational, somewhere between funny and stupid, in a combination which simply does not work. Kate's acting is miserable, same as Alexis' parents. The only convincing character, if any, is probably the social worker.

Concluding, this is a mediocre film to watch if you are into gay dramas and have nothing better to do. Matches up the standards of east asian gay drama series, but not the ones of main stream cinematography, and is definitely not Ozon's most brilliant accomplishment.

The boys meet while separately out boating and sixteen year old Alexis falls in love immediately with eighteen year old David. We know from the start that the relationship is doomed but we obviously don't know how and why. Hints and fragments emerge from the text - and it is a text. Alex is writing the events of the six week romance as a way of explaining his criminal actions to a social worker.

The running length of the film whirls past just as the summer romance between the lads does. During the affair, things are revealed that start to show that all is not well - David goes back to the drunk guy they rescued, he hints at a deeper relationship with the literature teacher, mum is clearly worried about him and asks his younger friend to keep an eye on him, it turns out the boat was not dealt with.

Alex is blind to it all and is blissfully happy in his first proper love affair. They do things young besotted teenagers do - drink, go to fairgrounds, have punch ups with rival guys, drive dangerously on the Suzuki. They exchange kisses and embraces and make love while David's mum is doped up on sleeping pills.

It all comes crashing down and when it does, the events take a gruesome and tragic turn of events. Alex is in trouble. He had made David a promise he thought he would not have to keep either at all or for many years but is now obliged to carry it out. On the way to this, he's helped by his English acquaintance who offers the apercu that he was in love with an idea and not the person. It's the definition of puppy love.

Frantic typing feverishly results in clarity both for David and the court and his story ends as far as the film is concerned but carries on beyond its ending with another boat ride; our imaginations can envisage the course of his life now that he's learnt a lesson and is a bit wiser to the ways of the world.

As always, Ozon's storytelling is masterful as is the cinematography. The choice of music was perfect. "In between days" by The Cure framed the film and I can't imagine anything more apt especially once the film was complete.

The two leads played their parts fantastically. The supporting cast were not fleshed out but didn't need to be. Their characters were recognisable cliches that could be found in a French provincial town nearly forty years ago and simply drove the plot along.

I do recommend this film.

In the title summer, on a beach town, two teenage boys meet while sailing and fall in love. The story is told mostly by way of an essay that recounts the events of the summer, which allows for selective disclosures (or not). Right at the start of the film, we know something bad has happened, but it takes most of the movie to find out what and why.

The young actors are natural, and the cinematography is gorgeous. Being set in 1985, I suppose it can't end in "getting married and living happily ever after", but there is maturity and hope.