Summertime (2015 film)

Summertime
Film poster
Directed by Catherine Corsini
Produced by Elisabeth Perez
Written by Catherine Corsini
Laurette Polmanss
Starring Cécile de France
Izïa Higelin
Noémie Lvovsky
Music by Grégoire Hetzel
Cinematography Jeanne Lapoirie
Edited by Frédéric Baillehaiche
Production
company
Chaz Productions
France 3 Cinéma
Artémis Productions
Solaire Production
Distributed by Pyramide Distribution
Release date
  • 6 August 2015 (2015-08-06) (Locarno)
  • 19 August 2015 (2015-08-19)
[1]
Running time
 105 minutes
Country France
Belgium
Language French
Budget €4.8 million[2]
Box office $2.2 million[3]

Summertime (original title: La Belle Saison) is a 2015 French-Belgian romantic drama film directed by Catherine Corsini, co-written with Laurette Polmanss. The film stars Cécile de France, Izïa Higelin and Noémie Lvovsky.[4] It premiered at the Locarno International Film Festival, where it won the Variety Piazza Grande Award.[5][6]

Plot

Delphine is the only child of French farmers who enjoys working the land with her parents. Though her father wants her to marry, Delphine is secretly pursuing a relationship with another local girl. When she goes to a rendez-vous with her girlfriend she is informed that her girlfriend intends to marry a local boy, dismissing the relationship between her and Delphine as "not serious". Delphine then runs away to Paris in 1971.

While walking down the street Delphine encounters a group of women running down the street pinching men's buttocks. When one of them attacks a woman, Delphine helps extract her and learns that her name is Carole. Carole and the other women belong to a feminist group focused on women's liberation. They encourage Delphine to join and she begins to participate in their protests. When one of the group members learns that her best friend, a gay man, has been committed to a mental institution by his family and is being given electroshock therapy, the rest of the group refuses to help her extract him. Delphine on the other hand successfully argues that they should help to free him, and is part of a group of women, along with Carole, who successfully free him. The night after Delphine kisses Carole who is surprised and rejects her. The next day Carole tells Delphine that she is not a lesbian, but the two wind up in a passionate embrace and begin an affair. Carole initially believes that it is a one night stand, but quickly develops feelings for Delphine. She tells her boyfriend of the affair and the two struggle to work out their relationship even as Carole continues to see Delphine.

Delphine receives a call from her mother that her father has had a heart attack. Delphine goes to visit them and realizes that she must stay in order to help run the farm. Taking some of the lessons she has learned in the feminist collective she represents her parents' interest with the farmers. Carole goes to visit her and decides that she cannot live without her. Taking a break from her boyfriend she returns to the countryside but is surprised to learn that she and Delphine must remain discreet and closeted as they are still living with Delphine's mother who does not know her daughter is gay.

Carole initially enjoys country life and works the land with Delphine and her mother. However she finds the people confining as they mock her politics and she finds it frustrating she is unable to openly be with Delphine the way she was in Paris. She also begins to have doubts about Delphine's intentions after Antoine, a local boy in love with Delphine, tells her that Delphine will never leave the farm and Delphine's mother tells Carole that Antoine intends to marry Delphine. Carole begins fighting with Delphine which results in several people learning Delphine's secret including a local farmer who sees them kissing, and her mother who overhears them arguing.

The following morning Delphine's mother walks in on Carole and Delphine in bed. Though she acts like everything is normal with Delphine she tells Carole to leave her home, accusing her of having perverted her daughter before attacking her. Carole tells Delphine she is leaving and Delphine decides to run away to be with Carole. Though they leave on the train together, Delphine finds herself unable to leave. She decides to miss their connecting train to Paris and returns home.

5 years in 1976 Carole is working at a women's health clinic and is in a relationship with another woman. She receives a letter from Delphine who writes to tell her that she has finally left her parents' farm and now has one of her own in Southern France. She tells Carole that she regrets not leaving with her 5 years earlier but she understands that it is impossible to turn back time.

Cast

Production

Principal photography took place in Limousin and in Paris from 22 July to 16 September 2014.[4]

Reception

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 91% based on 55 reviews, and an average rating of 6.7/10.[7] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 72 out of 100, based on 16 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[8]

Muriel Del Don of Cineuropa writes "upbeat and majestic with tragic undertones", the film is a "real emotional odyssey in which passion seems to conquer all, even the most tenacious of prejudices".[9] In a review for Variety, Peter Debruge called it a "luminous, golden-hued period piece" and a "beautifully realized tearjerker".[10]

Reviewing it for The Hollywood Reporter, Boyd van Hoeij said that "Though the narrative somewhat awkwardly morphs from a period drama about the French women's liberation movement in early 1970s to a more rural melodrama about being closeted and choosing between duty and family and personal happiness, the story is anchored by strong performances from Cécile de France and Izïa Higelin, who have a natural chemistry that’s not only credible but actually infectious."[11]

Accolades

Award / Film Festival Category Recipients and nominees Result
César Awards[12] Best Actress Cécile de France Nominated
Best Supporting Actress Noémie Lvovsky Nominated
Locarno International Film Festival[6] Variety Piazza Grande Award Won
Lumières Awards[13] Best Film Nominated
Best Director Catherine Corsini Nominated
Best Actress Izïa Higelin Nominated
Best Screenplay Catherine Corsini and Laurette Polmanss Nominated
Best Music Grégoire Hetzel Won
Trophées du Film français[14] Duo cinéma Catherine Corsini and Élisabeth Perez Won

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Hunger Games - La révolte : partie 2, Night Run, Enfant 44... les 20 photos ciné de la semaine". AlloCiné. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
  2. ↑ "La Belle Saison". JP's Box-Office.
  3. ↑ "La Belle Saison". Box Office Mojo.
  4. 1 2 "Summer shoot for La belle saison by Catherine Corsini". Cineuropa. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
  5. ↑ "Palmarès 2015". Locarno.
  6. 1 2 "Locarno Film Festival Announces Lineup for Its 68th Year, Awards Edward Norton on Opening Night". Indiewire. 15 July 2015.
  7. ↑ "Summertime (La Belle Saison) (2016)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved February 14, 2018.
  8. ↑ "Summertime Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved February 14, 2018.
  9. ↑ "Summertime, "my body belongs to me"". Cineuropa. 10 August 2015.
  10. ↑ "Locarno Film Review: 'Summertime'". Variety. 6 August 2015.
  11. ↑ "'Summertime' ('La belle saison'): Locarno Review". The Hollywood Reporter. 7 August 2015.
  12. ↑ "'Golden Years,' 'Marguerite,' 'Dheepan,' 'Mustang' Lead Cesar Nominations". Variety.
  13. ↑ "Prix Lumières 2016 : Trois souvenirs de ma jeunesse et Mustang en tête des nominations". AlloCiné. 4 January 2016.
  14. ↑ "Palmarès Trophées du Film Français 2016 : la comédie à l'honneur !". AlloCiné.

Further reading

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