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| A wonderfully evocative still from the film of a deep sense of freedom and love is used on this fabulous Japanese poster for François Ozon's Summer of 85 |
Alex is a young lad one summer in Normandy in 1985, where his capsizing his friend's boat leads him to be saved by the able, impressive David, whom he falls in love with for a tempestuous few weeks.
Summer of 85 is written and directed by great French filmmaker François Ozon (See the Sea/Regarde la Mer (1997)), adapting the 1982 novel Dance on My Grave by Aidan Chambers (The Toll Bridge (1992)).
It is a colorful and vivacious piece with a light touch to it, though its plot and themes are serious enough: David dies in a dramatic accident at the end of the summer, and David's explanations and Alex's experience of the complications of their relationship are quite grown-up. SPOILER Basically David gets bored with his plaything fast and is not a monogamous person, whereas Alex had thought they had a serious, exclusive love thing going.
Félix Lefebvre (Une Nuit à Travers Champs (2020, short)) as Alex and Benjamin Voisin (Man Up!/Un Vrai Bonhomme (2019)) as David are both very good, the former in using his boyish face cleverly to appear to really fall in love for the first time, and the latter in skillfully seducing his new friend. They are also both gorgeous to look at and compliment each other exquisitely. The sweet taste of youthful love and erotic firsts proves once again an auspicious cinematic territory here.
The guilty-pleasure feel of the film, naturally also heightened by some hip period music, makes it reminiscent of Luca Guadagnino's great Call Me By Your Name (2020), but the story's course and its performers here makes Summer of 85 its own.
Valeria Bruni Tedeschi's (La Vita come Viene (2003)) affectionate mother to David is a bit of a dark horse in the story: SPOILER At the outset she bares Alex's genitals for her appraisal in her house, (strangely), and towards the end she blames him for everything. SPOILER Alex's own actions after the death peak in his strange dancing on David's fresh grave, fulfilling an oath David had made him swear to, thereby getting him arrested. (In the scene Alex dances wildly, seemingly to another piece of music than the one we are treated to.) This culmination, though delivered with passion, is still a bit difficult to get fully involved in. Nevertheless Summer of 85 is a very fine, expertly paced youth romance from one of contemporary cinema's greatest, Ozon.
Related posts:
François Ozon: Swimming Pool (2003) - Rampling and Sagnier stand out in Ozon's suggestive, sensual thriller
1999 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess
Criminal Lovers/Les Amants Criminels (1999) - Ozon impresses with carnal crime drama
Watch a trailer for the film here
Cost: Reportedly 6.1 mil. €, approximately 7.22 mil. $
Box office: 3.6 mil. $ and counting
= Some uncertainty, looks to become a huge flop (has returned 0.49 times its cost presently)
[Summer of 85 premiered 2 July (France) and runs 100 minutes. 17 companies were involved in the financing and production of the film. Shooting took place from May 2019-? in France. The film opened #25 to a 9k $ first weekend in 9 theaters in North America, where it only grossed 70k $ (1.9 % of the total gross). The film's 3 biggest markets were France with 3 mil. $ (83.3 % of the total gross), Netherlands with 162k $ (4.5 %) and Russia with 115k $ (3.2 %). The release was heavily ruined by the China Virus pandemic. It was nominated for 12 César awards and a European Film award, among other honors. Ozon returned with Everything Went Fine/Tout s'Est Bien Passé (2021). Lefebvre returned in Suprêmes (2021); Voisin in Lost Illusions/Illusions Perdues (2021). Summer of 85 is certified fresh at 80 % with a 6.50/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
What do you think of Summer of 85?
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