By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3 cats
Director: Catherine Breillat
Starring: Clotilde Courau | Léa Drucker | Olivier Rabourdin | Samuel Kircher | Serena Hu
Original language title: L'été dernier
Year: 2024
Running time: 104
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14550346/reference/
Brett says: “Many know director Catherine Breillat for being provocative in both subject matter and delivery, and LAST SUMMER is her latest in a library of films that generates discussion well after the end credits roll. Anne is a lawyer who works hard at her job, has earned success, and is also a very good parent to two young girls who are happy and loved at every turn. Balancing household responsibilities and work alike, Anne and her affluent husband Pierre take on a new challenge when Theo, Pierre’s biological son, comes to live with the family. Theo is combative and confrontational, perceived as a threat to the current family dynamic. As Anne reaches a few breakthroughs with her new stepson, however, an unexpected relationship begins to blossom, startling audiences and taking shots at each viewer’s tolerance threshold.
“As open to controversy as the subject may seem, fans of the director’s previous works will likely find that this particular film’s presentation is not as bold and alarming as other works in Breillat’s catalog. Viewers new to the director will still writhe, cringe, ooh and aah, so the content is enough to push some sensibilities and still serve as an homage to Breillat’s ability to go to the edge.
“The fact that Anne is in a position as a lawyer to help young people and to be a beacon of family heroism in her own right is what makes the film’s central conflict tick. The why’s of Anne’s decision to follow through with an affair are left mostly to the audience, but the film sits her on a pedestal well enough to establish the potential for a fall from grace. The audience’s takes on why this particular plunge is made lies at the heart of what makes this film a good discussion piece. Although, perhaps most interesting and ironic above all of the “why’s” is how the successful lawyer must eventually put her legal and argumentative skills to the test in an act of self-preservation rather than her normal role of looking out for others, a more interesting character shift than the affair itself, one could contend.
“On the whole, there certainly are all the makings of a deliciously jarring film. But, it does feel rushed at times, losing a little bit of edge in how deliberately the film leans into the affair well before it actually comes to fruition. Some transitions also feel a little more unintentionally comical than startling or dramatic. It seems like there are attempts to lure the audience with what is the right thing to do and then go immediately for a shock factor to upend that; however, the combination sometimes misses the mark and comes across a little bit on the ludicrous side than the ‘oh my!’ reaction that surely is more along the lines of what the intention is.
“3 CATS OUT OF 5“