Two high school sweethearts, Luke and Jonah, spend their final months together over the course of a long, quiet summer in the rural South--a world of baseball, bicycles, church and green bea... Read allTwo high school sweethearts, Luke and Jonah, spend their final months together over the course of a long, quiet summer in the rural South--a world of baseball, bicycles, church and green bean casserole--contemplating their uncertain future and the uncertain future of America.Two high school sweethearts, Luke and Jonah, spend their final months together over the course of a long, quiet summer in the rural South--a world of baseball, bicycles, church and green bean casserole--contemplating their uncertain future and the uncertain future of America.
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Here in this setting Jonah and Luke, friends sense early childhood, give to each other the affectionate expression of companionship their friendship has developed into. They are each others comfort at this pivotal and often confusing time in life. Jonah must move on as his intellect and spirit demands it. Luke does not have this drive, this need for experience beyond the life they both know. Where Jonah is intellectually developed he is fearful of whats next but he must go. Luke is more emotionally developed because he knows Jonah better than Jonah knows himself and he must let Jonah go or it will ruin their friendship. If you love someone let them go!
I must say I do not believe this is a story of two gay males living as openly gay in a southern town. I can see how many others come to that easy conclusion. We see suggestion of love through their affection and need to be together. We never see them together beyond cuddling! As the photography shows nature growing and existing in this summer setting we are also given two boys living in nature and each is open to the natural need of humans to seek companionship and experience this new emotional want. Neither passes judgement on the other. Society bars this type of friendship with unfortunate labels but here Mark Thiedemann has created a poem, a fantasy, a dream of not necessarily what is but a celebration of what can be in real life.
Certainly a unique film that will appeal to those who are given to poetry and symbolism in life!
Jonah is a gifted student, artist and musician, while Luke isn't good at anything except sports, so they complement and help each other. They will be parting for the first time in their lives at the end of the summer, when Jonah goes north for college and Luke stays.
This is a blissful, idyllic fantasy that feels completely true. If I didn't know that boys like these would NEVER receive such support in such a town (they even sit together in church), I would believe it was a true story, even a documentary. Although rationally I know it's impossible, it's so real and true emotionally that what ends up being impossible is NOT believing in it.
Nothing much happens in this movie. There's some voice-over narration and some dialog, but it's primarily a sensual movie, a series of exquisitely beautiful visual and aural images that are impossible to describe adequately. Images of nature, of the boys in extreme closeup, many abstract images that are unidentifiable but powerfully evocative of the quiet, sensual, languid world in which the boys live. The score - when there is a score - is lyrical piano music by Beethoven and Schumann.
Last Summer is like a poem - about love, about beauty, about peace, about perfect harmony with the natural world. It's extraordinary and indescribable.
I never recommend that straight people watch gay movies, because if a gay movie is acceptable to straights it's by definition a failure. But this movie is so beautiful that I'm breaking that rule. Whoever you are, your life will be enriched if you see it.
The young actors who play Jonah and Luke do a superb job and the few supporting cast are good, but the greatest superlatives go to the director, the writer and especially the cinematographer. The visual presentation with accompanying sounds, is almost overwhelming in quantity and effect. The surrounding woods and greenery, rain falling, polished wood floors and furniture, weathered wood out buildings , church bells, chiming clocks, a passing freight train and the sad sound of its horn, wind chimes, metal surfaces, the boys together, all stir memories either real or imagined. Its nuanced subtlety is far more powerful than would have been achieved through a series of more deliberate actions and excess dialogue. Rob Reiner's "Stand By Me" was a wonderful film that stirred memories of childhood and the coming to terms with inevitable change, but it pales in emotional impact compared to "Last Summer."
Luke carries the label of "slow learner" and is repeating some classes in high school in order to be done with school, but has no idea what he will do next. Outwardly he is at peace with himself, is resigned to Jonah leaving for college, prefers remaining in "the shade of his own backyard," but beneath the surface he is deeply saddened at the prospect of separating from Jonah. At one time he tells Jonah he only wants to be with him and suggests the optimistic possibility that Jonah could return one day. "This place isn't going anywhere. I'm not going anywhere." But inwardly he knows full well that Jonah will meet new people who will love him and will never return. Jonah asks Luke several times to tell him not to go, but Luke refuses. Luke tells a teacher that Jonah is too good for all this recognizing that "Some people feel so comfortable in one place, and others feel trapped." His love for Jonah and a mature understanding of their different natures and abilities prevents him from asking Jonah not to go. Jonah is equally conflicted by his love for Luke, his sense of happiness (when he learns he was adopted) that he was never meant to be in this place, his fear of change and his need to escape from the small town trap where he feels unrelated to everyone and to everything about him, aside from Luke.
A wonderful film that is sure to stir memories and emotions for many and I suppose fall flat for those with entirely different experiences or those who disdain sentiment. Certainly anyone who feels a good movie must have car chases, special effects and zombies will be disappointed.
I was going to give it a 9 since a 10 would imply perfection, but even after a second viewing I could think of nothing that would justify the loss of a perfect rating.
What I do wanna highlight is the nature of their relationship. It is very peculiar in that words aren't really needed most of the time. Maybe it is because of all the time they've been together but they seem to understand each other and just enjoy each other's company. There's a lot of intimacy but I wouldn't say it's overly romantic.
Overall if you're looking for a slow artistic movie with a lot of focus on details and nature this one might be for you but if you're looking for a movie with drama and/or a more developed storyline I wouldn't really recommend this one.
Did you know
- TriviaThe camera Luke is using is a Yashica Electro 35.
- GoofsOne minor error: in the film's end credits (on DVD), Roben Sullivant is mistakenly listed as "Luke's Mother," when she actually plays--as correctly indicated on IMDb--"Jonah's Mother." In fact, Luke explains early in the film that his mother is dead.
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- Poslednje leto
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- 1h 13m(73 min)
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- 1.85 : 1