By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 5 cats
Original language title: La Belle Saison
Country: belgium, france
Year: 2016
Running time: 105
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4080768
Bruce says: “While not exactly covering new territory in terms of content,SUMMERTIME is a satisfying coming-of-age lesbian drama because of the carefully-crafted characters, beautifully brought to life by its three main actors – Izϊa Higelin, Cécile de France and Noémie Lvovsky. Director Catherine Corsini who co-wrote the screenplay deserves kudos as well.
“When we first spot Delphine (Izϊa Higelin) she is driving a tractor, baling hay. Her father Maurice (Jean-Henri Compère) offers
advice, ‘When you marry, get your husband to plant maize.’ Delphine’s mother, Monique (Noémie Lvovsky) works stoically
dawn-to-dusk but has no say, no part in the decision making for the farm. Antoine (Kévin Azaïs), a young man from a neighboring farm, is in love with Delphine and is beginning to make his feelings known. Soon we see Delphine kissing another young girl in her graduating class. Their love affair is coming to an end. ’We have to move on, Delphine,’ the girlfriend says after
breaking the news she is about to marry. Fearing a similar fate, Delphine escapes to Paris to study.
“Before long Delphine has joined a feminist group whose activities include holding meetings, printing pamphlets, making banners, and disrupting medical lectures. She is befriended by Carole (Cécile de France.) Risking rejection as the friendship
blossoms into a full-fledged crush, Delphine kisses Carole passionately. She is rebuffed but not exactly rejected. Sometime later, the second kiss does the job and the two girls end up in bed. Carole is confused and does not want to commit; she thought she had a good relationship with her boyfriend Manuel (Benjamin Bellecour).
“Maneuvering through ups and downs the romance flourishes. Then, Delphine gets a telegram that her father has had a stroke and is comatose; she is needed to work the farm. Back to the countryside she goes, dutifully albeit reluctantly. Carole is furious that she has abandoned her relationship with Manuel only to be herself abandoned.
“After she is back at the farm for a number of weeks, Delphine is shocked when Carole arrives. The two girls work the fields together by day and tiptoe between bedrooms at night. Carole, longing for their life in Paris, wants the arrangement to be temporary. Desperate for a confident, she talks to Maurice about love; he, of course, cannot respond. Delphine, exhausted from one punishing task after another, is content to let things be. The stalemate must end.
“By the end of the film I felt I knew the characters well. I was buoyed by their intensity and frustrated by their dilemmas. SUMMERTIME is well edited and beautifully photographed. Brutally honest and realistic, SUMMERTIME is deliciously bittersweet. 5 cats“