L'été meurtrier (1983) Reviews

• Aussi sur que je suis vivante, je riverai son ame

  stryker-51999-01-12

  It is high summer in the south of France. and one family's peace is about to be disturbed by Eliane, a young woman with revenge on her mind. Isabelle Adjani was 28 and already a star when she played Eliane, the scheming minx who dominates the film. Eliane is a wild child, disturbed, bitchy and alluring by turns. She has in mind a grand plan of revenge against the people whom she holds responsible for the rape of her mother. However, events take an unexpected turn ... This is a story saturated in, and powered by, sex. Eliane is obsessed by the violent rape of her mother back in 1955, the very incident which spawned her. In a real sense, her whole existence is given meaning by the rape. She is an extremely attractive girl, and she uses sex to get what she wants, and particularly to advance her designs of vengeance. Pin Pon (Alain Souchon) is a decent, simple man. His family, the Montecciari, are proud of their Italian descent. In their barn stands the barrel organ which played "Roses of Picardy" during the rape, and this Italian organ-grinder's instrument becomes for Eliane the symbol of her sense of injustice. She schemes to entrap Pin Pon into marrying her, in order to get close to the family's bosom. From the early scene in which Pin Pon emerges from under a car on a mechanic's trolley to find himself looking up Eliane's tiny diaphanous skirt, we know that he is an innocent dupe and that she is a pouting, dangerous little madam. It quickly becomes obvious that she is also unstable. Her behaviour in the restaurant embarrasses Pin Pon and her relationship with her mother is difficult and quasi-sexual. At times she regresses into a child-like vulnerability, and at others she is wantonly malicious and unruly. The narration of the story switches between the characters in a natural and convincing way. Eliane's relationship with the deaf Costagna (Suzanne Flon) is sensitively portrayed. Eliane is the only one whom the deaf woman can understand, because she whispers. The deaf old fool sees more clearly than the others what Eliane is about. To manipulate Pin Pon into marriage, Eliane pretends to be 'expecting'. Once again, sex is being used to avenge sex, the product of the unlooked-for pregnancy is exploiting her own imaginary pregnancy to settle the score. She takes particular delight in antagonising Pin Pon's stiff, correct mother (Jenny Cleve). The wedding is marred when Eliane unaccountably vanishes - another slight inflicted on the Montecciari, and a mirroring of the baby's 'disappearance'. The key to the complex plot is Eliane's traumatic relationship with her father, played by Michel Galabru. Just as Eliane is not really an expectant mother, so M. Devigne is not really a father. There is a sexual element in the bond of affection, at least in Eliane's unbalanced mind, and a colossal burden of guilt. If the men in the truck hadn't taken a wrong turning on that November night in 1955, or if the German girl hadn't been displaced by the war, or the Italians hadn't chosen to settle in the Vaucluse ... There is a sense in which the accidental intermingling of nationalities has caused this disruption in the life of the sleepy provencal village. And now, twenty years on, the potent mixture is reaching critical mass.

• Shatteringly powerful drama with an incredible Adjani performance

  DrLenera2004-07-09

  One Deadly Summer is an astonishing French drama whose best quality is quite simple- you don't know what will happen next. As soon as the plot appears to be sorting itself out, something else happens which changes what we are expecting .Also, the film itself changes several times.Initially it seems to be a love story with some strange elements.Then the film appears to be becoming one of those rape/revenge thrillers, such as Angel Of Vengeance, I Spit On Your Grave, than suddenly things change and it becomes more of a very dark family drama, culminating in an emotionally exhausting dialogue scene between the female protagonist and her father. Despite all this the film does not seem disjointed or muddled. At the film's core is an amazing performance by the brilliant Isabel Adjani, who like Monica Belucci manages something beyond the grasp of most American actresses, that of being incredibly sexy and being a superb actress. Her performance is truly heartfelt, sometimes extremely subtle, and sometimes truly barnstorming, but appropriately so. Director Jean Becker is not afraid to be innovative ,such as having different characters narrate bits of the film, and does a superb job of sequences like a flashback rape scene, which leaves the majority of that happens to the imagination yet still somehow gives some idea of the horror. There is the odd unexplained aspect ,and the film does seem to be building to action which does not really occur, although the cynical, downbeat ending is really entirely appropriate. Despite all this, there is quite a bit of humour in the film which does not detract at all from it's power. A Hollywood remake would cut out most of the first hour- yes, the pace is slow but the gradual building of tension and detail is nothing short of masterful- and add a happier or at least more 'resolved' ending.In that case,maybe it's a good thing this shattering film is not better known.

• Intelligent tale of revenge

  runamokprods2011-12-27

  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.

• all bright, golden and light, at first

  christopher-underwood2013-01-30

  I don't know how I've managed to not see this film till now, except I guess, for some reason it was only available for a short time. But it is a stunner, all bright, golden and light, at first, but rapidly the evidence of some dark undertow becomes evident. Alain Souchon seems a barely adequate pairing for Isabelle Adjani but it all gradually comes together. Adjani is skimpily dressed, partly undressed or completely nude for the entire picture and so hypnotises that we are distracted and unable to foresee what will be the doom laden, final denouement. I cannot think of another film where the leading lady looks so sensational from every angle and throughout an entire movie as Adjani does in this. Never a dull moment, as they say, and more than that, little is what it seems at first and those we think have a handle on things maybe don't. There is an intimate moment between Adjani's character and her mother that astonished and baffled me that does resonate as the film builds to its explosive ending.

• A warm mysterious summer!

  ankur01-253-4736162012-01-02

  French cinema yet once again proved its brilliance through this tiny masterpiece. The film was to be described in one word, it would be 'Unpredictable', you never know what will be the next thing or what will be the next intention of a character will be. 'One deadly summer' is a film about characters you may or may not be familiar with in real life but you certainly will believe them. Isabelle Adjani is very precise and shines with excellence in her role, she gives one of her very best performances here. Alain Sounchon delivers a remarkable performance, and the chemistry between these two are beyond words. The film oozes with mystery every moment, though having situations very believable and genuine and the characters development is so strong, so deep, that you will be forced to see every situation from their individual perspectives. A film to look out for. Simply one of those few fine European films you cannot afford to avoid, undoubtedly a 9.8 out of 10!