Summerfield

A great story yes but the real winner here is the photography. Even on a 23 year old video tape the sunsets, beach colours and water shots still look magnificent. John Waters is understated but nonetheless powerful. Nick Tate is rock solid as usual. Geraldine Turner never looked better!

'Summerfield' is 3/4 a great little movie... well, 5/8. But all the good work is somewhat negated by the payoff.

As my fellow reviewers have noted, the technical qualities are excellent: evocative cinematography, haunting score and sound design, sensitive direction. All of the performances are good but I particularly liked John Waters as the brooding brother and Geraldine Turner as the rubenesquely sexy landlady. The townsfolk have those wonderfully earthy, naturally idiosyncratic faces that seventies Australian cinema is full of.

The problem lies with the script. After a great build-up where clues are laid with nuance and subtlety, the revelation about the Abbott's relationship is lacking in the necessary emotional force. And the final scene just doesn't work for me. I was left puzzled and irritated.

On second thought, maybe its partly the script and partly the execution of the final moments. Maybe it worked better on paper than director Ken Hannam captued it on screen. I dunno. At any rate I was disappointed.

See the film if you can. There's an awful lot of good stuff happening before the climax. In fact, it's because the build-up is so good that the finale comes off as such a let-down.

Earlier comments already tell you what's so good about this film and have kindly not spoiled the plot so I'll simply add that I would love to see this classic film again.

This movie makes a refreshing change from modern formulaic trash (you know the ones I mean) so give it a go ~ I'm surprised by how watchable 70's movies are, it didn't seem so then but it was a brilliant decade for films.

Come on whoever-owns-the-film-rights, pull your finger out and give this fab movie the DVD release it deserves! NOW!

P.S, If you like this, try 'Bunny Lake is Missing' which is another quirky little gem...

"Summerfield" has an intriguing story with excellent actors, a great sense of place and loads of atmosphere.

From reading some of the reviews here, it is apparent that the film wasn't well received by the critics at the time. However, forty years later, it is removed from all the influences that may have coloured a critic's judgement.

The thing that surprised me was how fresh it seems - the remote setting gives it a timeless quality - it hasn't dated much beyond the makes of cars, a few 70's hairstyles and the absence of mobile phones and Xboxes. It also shows the maturity that Australian films had achieved after the more strident efforts of the 60's and early 70's.

Simon Robinson, played by Nick Tate - a Robert Redford lookalike especially when shirtless - arrives in the small seaside town of Bannings Beach as a replacement for a teacher who has mysteriously disappeared.

He senses that the townspeople are hiding something about the disappearance, and feels that many of them are wary of his presence. When Simon accidentally injures Sally Abbott, a pupil from his school played by Michelle Jarman, he becomes acquainted with her mother, Jenny Abbott and her uncle, David Abbott, who own a property on secluded Summerfield Island. Elizabeth Alexander, whose ethereal quality was just right for this movie, plays Jenny Abbott. John Waters as David Abbott, exudes an underlying sense of menace.

Simon continues to search for clues about his predecessor's disappearance while becoming more attracted to Jenny. Eventually, after a shock finale, he learns all the answers, but wishes he hadn't.

The early part of the movie reminded me a little of "The Wicker Man" - even the name Summerfield is reminiscent of Summerisle, the setting for that classic horror movie of 1973. Although the stories have different resolutions, and the similarities are no doubt coincidental, both films start with a stranger arriving in a remote location, a disappearance, and inhabitants who seem to share a secret. Even the sexual temptation by the hotel manager's wife in the case of "Summerfield" has similarities with the encounter with the landlord's daughter in "The Wicker Man".

But the similarities end there, "Summerfield" heads off to it's own surprising and tragic conclusion.

The movie benefits from Bruce Smeaton's score. He was a very experimental composer with an amazing range. An Aeolian harp, which works as an acoustic wind chime, and other stringed instruments including a bouzouki, all find a place in the score, which also features a lilting main theme.

This is a movie that has shed whatever baggage worried the critics all those years ago - it is simply a beautifully made film that holds your attention from start to finish.

This is a remarkable film. Slow moving, it nevertheless gripped me, thanks to an intriguing premise, moody photography and sympathetic playing. The "if only" ending is surprising and satisfying; even now, 20 years after I first saw the film and with plenty of others to compare it with, I still think it's one of the most memorable film endings I've seen. Recommended.