L'été meurtrier

French cinema yet once again proved its brilliance through this tiny masterpiece. The film was to be described in one word, it would be 'Unpredictable', you never know what will be the next thing or what will be the next intention of a character will be. 'One deadly summer' is a film about characters you may or may not be familiar with in real life but you certainly will believe them. Isabelle Adjani is very precise and shines with excellence in her role, she gives one of her very best performances here. Alain Sounchon delivers a remarkable performance, and the chemistry between these two are beyond words. The film oozes with mystery every moment, though having situations very believable and genuine and the characters development is so strong, so deep, that you will be forced to see every situation from their individual perspectives. A film to look out for. Simply one of those few fine European films you cannot afford to avoid, undoubtedly a 9.8 out of 10!

Isabelle Adjani gives a brilliant, instinctive performance (and she also has several showstopping nude scenes, I might add) as an animalistic, untamed young sexpot who seeks vengeance on the three men that raped her mother 20 years ago. In the first few minutes, the film seems a bit confusing and pointless, but gradually reveals itself to be a multi-layered story with quite a few twists along the way. "One Deadly Summer" deserves more attention (but is difficult to find). (***)

L'Ete Meurtrier is a compelling tale of vengeance which will surely appeal to all aficionados of thriller genre.Jean Becker embarked on a cinematic path wholly different in content as well as structure from the one taken by his legendary father Jacques Becker.There is a prevalent aspect of revenge running throughout all his films.L'Ete Meurtrier varies its tone and narrative style at regular intervals.It starts as an erotic drama and transforms itself into an agreeable account of retribution.Eliane takes cruel revenge when she learns that her birth was the fruit of her mother's brutal rape.Isabelle Adjani regretted having refused to do certain nude scenes in Luis Bunuel's renowned "Cet obscur objet du desir".This film gave her a chance to display all her erotic charms.She strips over and over again which boosted the film's Box Office success.L'Ete Meurtrier which won 4 Cesars in 1983 was fully dominated by Isabelle Adjani whose presence eclipsed all expectations.

More an Intelligent drama, with some violent overtones more than the "thriller" it's packaged as. This has more in common with "Rashomon" than with the latest slick action movie out of Hollywood.

Isabelle Adjani plays a young woman unhinged by the knowledge of her mother's brutal rape by 3 men years earlier, and she has built her life around seeking revenge. The film's most striking aspect is the use of multiple switching narrators, so we see the tale unfold from several points of view.

Adjani, as always, has a tremendous emotional rawness, but for me the performance (and the writing) wears its heart a little too much on it's sleeve. I wish she wasn't so clearly crazy much of the time. Or that more people seemed to notice just how blatantly manipulative her behavior is.

The pace is very slow, which worked a lot of the time, but I did find myself frustrated at moments.

But all that said, this is an interesting experiment in telling a complex story, with strong performances all around. And if it occasionally falls into melodrama, it also is full of moments that are disturbing, moving and shocking.

L'Ete Meurtrier is a very complex, cleverly constructed film, well acted, written and directed. For me, one of the cleverest features is the fact that a number of characters take their turn at narration.

Although Adjani puts in a very good performance, in my opinion the best performance is by Suzanne Flon, who plays the pivotal role of Cognata.

The flashback scenes are not wholly convincing for me - they do not even begin to suggest that the action is taking place twenty years previously.

Perhaps my favourite scene, is the one where Eliane sits outside her father's locked door and cries "tu est mon pere!" - this scene is well acted by Adjani - the viewer can almost feel her anguish.

Overall, an excellent film which can be watched over and over again. In fact, one needs to watch it a few times to appreciate all the twists and turns in the plot.