I saw the latest film from Francois Ozon, SUMMER OF ‘85. I generally enjoy his films, although like Almodovar, he works in a range of tones, some of which are more affecting than others. SWIMMING POOL with Charlotte Rampling is darkly funny, and at times wonderfully perverse. 8 WOMEN on the other hand is lighter, more colorful, while still having a dark sense of humor. RICKY was less memorable to me, dark and small. And WATER DROPS ON BURNING ROCKS takes itself more seriously, is more consciously stylish.
SUMMER OF ‘85 is confidently made by both director and cast. Young actors, Felix Lefebvre and Benjamin Voisin are well cast and have great chemistry, perfectly suited for young gay love. The film also doesn’t spend a lot of time agonizing or moralizing over identity, it just gets on with it. Gotta love the French.
The 80’s setting makes comparisons with CALL ME BY YOUR NAME inevitable. And the two films do have a similar tone. But CALL ME feels more dangerous, more transgressive. The age difference between the two characters in CALL ME, makes the attraction uncertain for a very long time. In SUMMER OF ‘85 there is definitely a difference in the level of sexual experience between the two lovers, but they are similar in age and seem fated to be together. This sense of inevitability could also be because of the narrative framing device. We are told at the beginning of the film that one of them dies.
Anyone who has watched a lot of gay cinema is quite familiar with stories of coming out or young gay love. Some of us, to the point of not even watching these films any more. SUMMER OF ‘85 is better made than the average of these, but it still suffers from the familiarity of it’s story. There are attempts at an “Ozonian” darkness. Young Alex has an obsession that drives him to do strange things, like Charlotte Rampling in SWIMMING POOL, but it feels more like a pale shadow than a true darkness. Again, this may be the fault of the framing device, or simply the age of the character. We expect teenagers to be moody, sullen, and do strange and dangerous things. We assume that Charlotte Rampling would have grown out of it by now. (Glad she hasn’t though!) I can’t help wondering what this story would have been like if it had been told by Xavier Dolan (TOM AT THE FARM, I KILLED MY MOTHER) or Alain Guiraudie (STRANGER BY THE LAKE.)
SUMMER OF ‘85 is a perfectly respectable two hours entertainment. I am not angry over spending $12 to see it. I expect straight viewers will faun over the film and congratulate themselves on being allies. Political viewers will probably bark about the tragic ending. In a previous era where we weren’t telling our own stories this was a valid concern. We certainly must be vigilant about those abuses, but we also need to be open to richer and deeper storytelling. Our lives don’t have to be candy colored and polly-anna-ish to be valid. Granted, they are radically different films, but I would much prefer modern filmmakers give us more like SUMMER OF ‘85 and less like THE PROM. Don’t squander talent on paper thin narratives excused by vomitous style. Ryan. More experienced gay and queer cineasts won’t find much that’s new in SUMMER OF ‘85, just told with a slightly more deft hand.