Customer Reviews

One Deadly Summer [DVD]

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you have not fallen for Adjani by the end of this file, check your pulse, you are probably dead! What seems like a bog standard 'boy meets girl, boy fancies girl, boy marries girl' film suddenly turns dark. The elaborate plot is taken along at a swift pace with superb acting throughout. The hilarious interaction between Adjani and the 'Mad' Grandmother, although short, stands out. This is a film that lingers in the memory not least for the erotically charged performance of Isabelle Adjani as she struts and pouts and schemes her way to revenge.

When the beautiful and provocative young Elle (performed brilliantly by Isabelle Adjani) flounces and pouts into a somnambulent Provencal village the inhabitants wake up with a start and stand to attention. Especially the menfolk. While we are all mesmerised by this dazzling creature with her cloud of dark hair and saphire blue eyes it is clear that she is not simply there for decorative purposes and things become ever more noir as the film develops.

The mistress of cunning and manipulation she sets a chain of negativity in motion, turning friend against friend and brother against brother. A convincing liar, she charms her way into the bosom of her boyfriend's family and proceeds to cause havoc and undoing. Given to explosive and unreasonable rages, her intentions are anything but honourable. As themes of vengance, insanity and murder take hold and we are dragged down the many twists and turns of the plot, nothing prepares us for the end.

This is an excellent thriller set in the 70s. Atmospheric, explosive and full of tension and suspense. The film was made in 1983 and in 1986 when 'Betty Blue' with Beatrice Dalle emerged, it had more than an echo of this film. If you enjoy thrillers this could be the one for you. Well worth viewing.

I saw this film many years ago and it still holds wonderful images for me. The peerless beauty of Ms Adjani is matched by the horror of her character's childhood nightmare. Summer in France is breathtakingly photographed

French director, screenwriter and actor Jean Becker`s fifth feature film is an adaptation of a novel from 1977 by French director, screenwriter and author Sebastian Raprisot (1931-2003) who wrote the screenplay for the film. It tells the story about Eliane Wieck, a flirtatious and ambiguous nineteen-year-old woman who one hot summer returns to her hometown in provincial France with her German mother and handicapped father. Eliane`s provocative behavior makes everyone in town notice her and causes suspiciousness amongst the inhabitants, but one day she is approached by Fiorimonti, a nice local car mechanic who immediately falls in love with her, and a relationship begins to evolve.

This character-driven mystery from the early 1980s which was shot on different locations in France, is a thoroughly written psychological drama and a plot-twisting thriller where the warm and bright countryside milieu depictions contrasts the impending atmosphere which is reinforced by French composer Georges Delerue`s cryptic and efficient score. With a shifting pace and an engaging literary narrative, this multifaceted and intriguing tale about family relations, vengeance and love portrays a dark study of character about a traumatized and truth-seeking young woman who puts on a facade, acting like a poorly raised child, in order to find the truth about her past.

French actress Isabelle Adjani`s prominent acting performance as a bewitching femme fatale in a very complicated role and the fine acting performances by French actor Alain Souchon and French actress Suzanne Flon (1918-2005) substantiates this profitable French production which gained the award for best actress Isabelle Adjani, best supporting actress Suzanne Flon, best editing and best writing - adaptation at the Cèsar Awards in 1984 and was nominated for the Palme d`Or at the 36th Cannes Film Festival in 1983.

More an Intelligent drama, with some violent overtones more than the
"thriller" it's packaged as. This has more in common with "Rashomon"
than with the latest slick action movie out of Hollywood.

Isabelle Adjani plays a young woman unhinged by the knowledge of her
mother's brutal rape by 3 men years earlier, and she has built her life
around seeking revenge. The film's most striking aspect is the use of
multiple switching narrators, so we see the tale unfold from several
points of view.

Adjani, as always, has a tremendous emotional rawness, but for me the
performance (and the writing) wears its heart a little too much on it's
sleeve. I wish she wasn't so clearly crazy much of the time. Or that
more people seemed to notice just how blatantly manipulative her
behavior is.

The pace is very slow, which worked a lot of the time, but I did find
myself frustrated at moments.

But all that said, this is an interesting experiment in telling a
complex story, with strong performances all around. And if it
occasionally falls into melodrama, it also is full of moments that are
disturbing, moving and shocking.

whats not to like, a visual sigh as you watch a stunning girl do what stunning girls do, and the is unexpected...a film classic...

The murders are committed exclusively by men - however all, because they are bedeviled by: Isabelle Adjani. With an easy attitude she and her film-director use nudity as a screen-attraction (1984) - though the subject of the script (1977) was about neurotic and psychotic manners, about borderline personality disorder, about hate - and about the fact, that revenge cannot heal a soul filled up with traumata. The climax of the growing mental illness of Isabelle Adjani (in the role of Elle) does not allow any typical Hollywood happy end ...

sunshine-nice characters-good plor..
adjani really shines on the role..

abit late seventies dress however!!

overall very good...

A splendidly retro view of rural goings-on. plenty of twists in a plot that develops out of what feels like voyeuristic hokum initially. Adjani does acting with some ability justifying her centre stage. ignore the cover which reflects the interests of a Isabelle stalker rather than gives any clues to the film. Share the hazards of a hapless beauty as she fails to see the errors of others assuming the worst can only get "worser"

I can't see the point of this unless you are super keen to watch Adjani prancing around wearing nothing except a pout and high heels. If crazy naked French women is primarily what you are after, Beatrice Dahl does it so much sexier in Betty Blue. Apart from crazy pouting teetering woman, what remains is a daft, unlikely plot, much hysteria, and characters who all richly deserve what they have coming to them.