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Summertime

Country: France | Belgium, Language: French, 105 mins

Original Title

La Belle Saison
  • Director: Catherine Corsini
  • Writer: Catherine Corsini; Laurette Polmanss
  • Producer: Elisabeth Perez

CGiii Comment

In truth, the potential for this to be a man-bashing extravaganza was rather off-putting...that is, for a male reviewer.

Feminism, lesbians and pseudo-70s Paris...you can smell the patchouli, you can hear the love-beads, you can see the tie-dyed nipple-hugging t-shirts...and, the lesbian-film fixture, the slightly out-of-tune acoustic guitar just waiting to be straddled by some miserable, luckless-in-love wailing harpie.

Not so...phew!

Corsini throws in the feminism [briefly] and - refreshingly - shows how far the misandric extremists could take it. Thankfully, keeping both feet on the ground, she tells it how it is...it's all about equality. Plain and simple. By framing the argument in pragmatism, showing two hard-working-women...on a farm...without health insurance nor any input in the decision-making process, keeping it all together. It - candidly - hits home...it's unfair. It's not right. Things have got to change.

All women should be feminists, all men should be feminists...but, they're not. It really is the time to ask...why? Yip, those extremists can certainly screw-up a good thing!

Back to film...after Paris, on the farm at the height of summer and in the thrills and throes of a clandestine first-love. Delpine and Carole work the land...over-looked by scene-stealing mother...you just know it's all going to end in tears.

But...wondrously, it's not as predictable as it leads you to believe

It feels like summer, it smells of joy...it will make you reminisce of heady days...gone but not forgotten...regrets and treasures.

Beautifully filmed, perfectly played and quite, quite lovely.


Trailer...

The(ir) Blurb...

In 1971 France, a young girl from a rural family moves to Paris and begins a life-changing affair with a feminist activist.

Cast & Characters

Cecile De France as Carole;
Izia Higelin as Delphine;
Noemie Lvovsky as Monique;
Kevin Azais as Antoine;
Laetitia Dosch as Adeline;
Eloise Genet;
Bruno Podalydes as Professeur Chambard;
Patrice Tepasso