One of my favourite kind of films. One where nothing really happens, plots are set up but never really explored. This may seem like a lazy way to make a film, but it also perfectly reflects real life. Life where feelings are felt, but never acted upon. Real repressed and confused people, who live ordinary unexciting lives. 'At the Height of Summer' focuses on three sisters and the men in their lives. The oldest sister has a husband, unknown to her he has a child by another woman and sees her often. This eldest sister is also having an affair. The middle sister lives a normal life with her husband who is struggling to complete his latest novel. Finally we have the youngest sister who is attracted to her brother, and lacks focus in her life. The three sisters, and their men, live out their normal lives and we get the sense that this film could in fact exist anywhere in their life, and is not a specific time. The scenery is beautiful, as are the cast. The use of light and rain is stunning. This is a film that is easy to look at but hard to experience. The performances are very realistic, no one over reacts or over-acts. People are subtle and thoughtful in their actions, confrontation not being a major theme of the film. The music and the songs chosen (Lou Reed mainly) are well placed, and are used as the perfect background music. A few brief moments of comedy, such as the youngest sister's 'revelation' that she is pregnant, or the her and her brother chasing each other round the apartment, are scattered about, but don't detract from the drama aspects. If you like your films slow, real and simply stunning you could do a lot worse than this. Some points seem rather too slow and the lack focus the film expresses sometimes let it down, but it is a great film.
