1999 nen no natsu yasumi

I watched the movie for more than 10 times, every time I watched it, I treated it as a new movie. The movie has no time-frame, no sex and no where. It was said to be happened in 1999, but the feel was old. The actors were said to be boys, but actually they are girls. The school should be in Japan but it was more like a western school. So there can be many combinations:

1 boy + 3 girls + western school + future 3 boys + 1 girl + Japanese school + past 2 boys + 2 girls + western school + future

. . .

There were many ingredients too, friendship, love, scenery, music, family, parents (yes), city and rural, education and even IT . . .

Hauntingly beautiful, in the tradition of "Why Has Bodhidharma Left for the East?", and "Gattaca" this is a small work of art with an excellent, though slow-moving plot, exploring the themes of loneliness, sexual repression, jealousy, tenderness, and violence. It's surreal, in a completely inconspicuous and beguiling way; no adults are ever seen, the kids constantly wear ties, the school and dormitory is unbelievably stark, parts of the story (but which?)are dreams, and the older boys are played by girls!

It works to excellent effect. It may be the best film on gay themes besides the Canadian gem "Lilies."

this film is absolutely my personal favourite of all times.

the film sets itself in a vague time and place, it never tries to tell the audience where exactly the boarding school is; and although it says it's 1999, however it gives us a very timeless feeling when we see some strange looking computers in the classroom, what the 4 'boys' wear, and also the traditional look of the boarding school. we can never tell from the film itself unless we look at the title. this not only gives me more room for imagination but also let me get more focused on the attractive plot instead of diverting my attention to unecessary explanation of like why this school locates in this particular place, or why it got to be happening in the year 1999.

the 'boys' are living on their own with no adults around, and with no interference from the outside world. being young and fearless, they are allowed to act childish, to act in an innocent way, and need not care about how the outsiders think about them. this also avoids discussion on the supposed-to-be sensitive issue on gay relationships.

this is not a complete comment on the film, let the film speaks for itself. you will be fascinated. i know it's late to comment on this film after more then 10 years i've seen this movie, but i'm sure it's not too late as you will find it never out-of-date.

rated 10/10.

This film is the best movie I have ever seen.I like the actresses and also the story.The story is interesting and unusual.I have seen this movie for at least 10 times .I like it very much .The actresses act very well.They are professional although they act as boys.Overall,this film is very good.All of you will enjoy it.

Summer Vacation: 1999 is a dreamlike coming-of-age story set in a Japanese high school all but deserted for the holidays. The only boys left on campus are orphans, They keep up the daily routine and, on the side, learn about love.

It's not quite that simple, though -- for us. The narrative is set up so that each section is a dream sequence of the section that came before it -- like a Japanese Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie without the black humor. It's a boy's school, but the majority of the four boys is played by girls (probably to accentuate the homoerotic subtext of the film). And for some reason that remains obscure, it's set in 1999, with the students using weirdly anachronistic tech gadgets that would almost seem amusing if the film had any room for humor.

When a boy, Yu, commits suicide, their small group never quite gets over it. But when a boy named Kaoru -- the virtual image of Yu -- appears at their doorstep as a new student, no one's certain if it's a sham or some fantastic coincidence. He's certainly more aggressive than meek Kaoru, and his presence awakens romantic stirrings in the boys that will lead to conflict and even violence.

The setting is pretty, the photography is pretty -- even the boys (rather, girls) are pretty. They talk about feelings and deep emotional things that are off-territory even for most girls. It's not surprising that somehow the film itself comes off as false.