Summer of 85 (2020) User Reviews

A Whirlwind Tragedy

[Neon_Gold · 7/10 · 3 January 2021]

I have never read or heard of the book this was based on so I didn't really no what to expect.

I was really impressed. Especially with the romance aspect of this movie. It was really whirlwind-y and you felt wrapped up in it and along for the ride with the characters. I think this was in part to the actors. They were fantastic and really emotive.

I think the film lets its self down right at the start by showing a flash forward. I really hate this troupe in movies and I think it undercuts the story. You are waiting for the penny to drop. I get that this can add tension and a sombreness to the movie but I think that I would have been much more invested if I didn't know what was going to happen.

It didn't ruin the movie for me because like I said the romance is done so well and the costuming and filmmaking are incredible. It really feels like an 80's movie.

Sexy & Nostalgic Gloom & Doom Boys Love

[AppleEye2U · 8/10 · 13 September 2020]

Such a pity this movie is released during corona. Été 85 deserves worldwide recognition and rewards like Call Me By Your Name. It is said director Francois Ozon was inspired by this movie to make his own version, set in 1985, when he turned 18 in France.

This movie is typically Ozon, he's a master in story telling, stirs up our emotions, appeals to our hormones. The cast is wonderful. The male lead (Alex) is a brooding 16 year old student, who goes down the rabbit hole in his passion for his flamboyant lover (David) an 18 year old unstable character who lost his father a year ago.

Almost from the start we know their love is doomed, but the story unfolds like a sweet gay summer romance. We watch the boys sailing, dancing, driving to the sea, watching the sunset, exchanging sloppy kisses, making out at every opportunity. All scenes are filmed in 16 mm tinted in light colors to remind us of the eighties.

The boys fling lasts only 6 weeks, but makes a life long impression on Alex with life lessons about seduction, passion, jealousy and death. Later on he asks himself questions about real love, and the ideal of love, two different things, like we all know, but difficult to discern when you're intensely in love for the very first time.

All in all I loved this sexy, nostalgic Gloom & Doom boys love that seems fitting for the eighties. Go watch it.

Summer love is always a painful love

[MarcoParzivalRocha · 7/10 · 29 September 2020]

Normandy, 1985. Alexis and David begin an unlikely friendship after an incident at sea. The story telling is interesting, François Ozon style, the typical plot to appeal for feelings and emotions, but that sometimes (as is the case in this film) falls too much into the melodramatic. There's nothing mind blowing, or double-sided characters, it is a simple summer love story, where there's a side of innocence and illusion about the first love to contrast with a rebellious and non-conformist side, of fleeting relationships. The aesthetics and sonority perfectly captures the 80's vibe, in a fantastic 16mm film. Those who liked 'Call Me by Your Name' will certainly like 'Été 85', given the similarities and inspirations that the director sought after Luca Guadagnino's great success. The protagonists have talent, and above all, chemistry, essential for a film of this kind to work. It's a nice way to end the (strange) summer of 2020.

Even lesser Ozon is still worth exploring

[gortx · 25 August 2021]

Fine French filmmaker Francois Ozon (SWIMMING POOL) in a lower gear but still not without interest. As the title and poster may indicate, this is a memory film. A story about a fateful summer and a relationship that changes everything in a young person's life. Looks can be a bit deceiving, however, as there is more than hazy lazy nostalgia at play.

Based on a novel by Aidan Chambers ('Dance on my Grave') the couple are Alexis (Felix Lefebvre) and David (Benjamin Voisin) two handsome teens who meet by accident in a Normandy seaside village. David's mother (Valeria Bruni Tedeschi) also takes a liking to Alexis and invites him to work at her marine shop alongside her own son. The pair also meet up with a sprightly British au pair who strikes up a friendship with the two boys in order to improve her French!

Despite the sunny resort setting, the wistful period tunes by The Cure and Rod Stewart and the dreamy graininess of the 16mm film photography, Ozon (who also wrote the adaptation) never lets his film drift from it's serious themes of sexuality and responsibility. The small cast is very capable and the tone is consistent. Some of the writing isn't as sharp as it could have been and the flashback structure does keep it from fully building any story momentum. While there is darkness, there is always a promise of optimism that that fateful summer will lead to something to look back on with a certain fondness.

Beautiful, nostalgic storytelling

[jb-x · 7/10 · 25 October 2020]

Beautifully shot nostalgic piece of 'storytelling' as Alexis, a young gay teen, recalls his beautifully tragic 'love story' with an older man, David, in Normandie during the summer of 1984. The film is incredibly self-reflexive in that Alexis' prologue in the opening sequence directly addresses the viewer through eye contact with the camera and this breaking of the fourth wall is done several times through the film. Thus, from the beginning, we are reminded that this is a story - perhaps somewhat a fabrication or exaggeration of events - but are warmly invited by Ozon to take pleasure in this nostalgic retelling of events. The narrative structure is a continuous pivoting back and forth which presents us with the past story as well as the present Alexis trying to free himself from his trauma through his written testimony in the run up to his court hearing.

Ozon builds a sense of nostalgia through costume and picture as well as presenting the act of cinemagoing as an opportunity for magic, dreams and romantic encounters as Alexis & David develop their budding romance through several cinema trips. The film is beautifully shot in terms of its colour palette - there is a lot of blue to reflect the freedom of the sea and the melancholy that the protagonist feels.

In the second half of the film, there is an increased sense of sadness and emotional distraught as Alexis' lover dies in a motorcycle accident and Alexis is desperately trying to 'remember'/construct his testimony of the events which followed. Because of this deliberate 'construction' of memory, we are reminded through Alexis' psychiatrist and teacher that the account could be exaggerated and manipulated somewhat - in this regard, can we believe everything presented to us, particularly the ending scenes? Furthermore, should the viewer be completely complicit in their spectatorship or question some of the underlying issues glossed over like the suggested sexual assault of the drunk guy and the age difference between the two ephemeral lovers (Alexis would have only been 15 when he met 18 year old David).

This is definitely a must-see!

Disappointing experience from Francois Ozon

[alaz_izmir · 6/10 · 20 October 2020]

The latest Francois Ozon's 16mm release * Ete 85* is quiet disappointing comparison to his previous works such as Sitcom, 8 femmes, La Piscine, Gouttes D'eau Sur Pierre Brulantes and Amant Double. It seems like he wanted to create the sense of atmosphere in between Call me by your name and his 1996 short film Une rob D'ete. The film has some great songs in soundtrack such as Cruel Summer from Bananarama, Rod Stewart's Sailing in disco scene and closing song from The Cure with In Between Days. Rating: 5.5 out of 10

Beautifully made movie!

[harshagangca · 7/10 · 28 November 2020]

I'm not a fan of death, but still gotta love the way how beautifully the movie was made. The feelings were on point, felix lefebvre is a good actor.

Thankfully, some people still make films like this

[scotartsproduction · 9/10 · 26 October 2020]

Thanks to Ozon for making something that leaves typical McHollywood LA tropes in the dirt. Most gay films pals in comparison. Why? A story, well written story, dedicate visionaries, and actors. This is what cereative cinema is all about. Sure, we've seen the summer romances, and this film certainly does not do anything new in that respect - however that is the point, The skill to present this as an acceptable love affair, with a good twist, is why it's stronger than most. Summer of 85 brings in everything but the kitchen sink from literate queerdom: young romance, Verlaine, Rimbaud, eager French-isms in tragedy, and steamy sensuality. But it's also what Ozon left out: tired politics, rah-rah Pink parade tropes, and endless rants on victimhood. These are boys, who fell in love, and there's a reasonably believable story about them - apparently rooted in a real life saga of a similar situation, found in British newspapers decades ago. My only criticism is, the film could have used a deeper delve into New Romanticism of the 80s - if you're going to do The Cure - go deeper. Rimbaud was a very bad boy, Alex is not 'bad' he's consumed with passion. Slightly more stylized and slightly less topical. That said, this movie is a great watch, I'll see it in cinema post-covid, and highly recommend. Thank God someone is making things like this! "Never run with the masses, there's danger in numbers" - Quentin Crisp

underrated film with overhype reviews

[leolynn-53517 · 6/10 · 7 September 2021]

This is my first time watching , a beautiful love story , beautifully written and love the cinematography and 80s aesthetic and I love the ending but this is just a normal love story.

Unsurprising story elaborated surprisingly beautiful

[imdb-jeroen · 9/10 · 7 September 2020]

I've seen a lot of 'gay' movies and a lot of coming of age movies and a lot of movies that combine both, but it is rare to see this in such great quality. The story hasn't many surprising twists, but the movie doesn't need those. It is a story of all times, metoculously set in one specific time and told in a very skillfull and loving fashion.

The casting, acting, art-direction, all are superb and enticing. The young actors seem to have great carriers ahead.

3.628.800 seconds.

[baunacholi-86159 · 7/10 · 8 March 2022]

A vibrant, emotional and genuine coming of age story. You can actually feel the joy and effortlessness this very summer had for the two main characters. You're part of the innocence, the longing but also the loneliness, frustration and ultimately the broken dream and tragedy. A memorable movie with convincing acting esp from Mr. Lefebvre.

(Not only) The story of a love fou

[danybur · 9/10 · 4 April 2022]

Summary

This film about a passionate youthful gay romance (un amor fou) once again shows us Ozon's ability to combine genres and his proverbial narrative fluidity and addresses one of his most frequent topics: the insurmountable distance mediated by the point of view between the story and the elusive reality and between the perception we have of others and their true nature.

Review

Alexis (Félix Lefebvre) is a 16-year-old boy who has recently lived with his family in a seaside resort on the Normandy coast. When he goes sailing with a sailboat, he meets David (Benjamin Voisin), a young man who lives with his mother (Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi) in the area. The meeting gives rise to a romance between the two.

As with many François Ozon films, talking about them implies much more than referring to his anecdote. But we can start there.

Right from its introduction, Summer of 85 shows us Alexis at a point after the romance, engaged in a situation that could lead to prosecution linked to David's death. This time will alternate with that of romance, which turns the film partially into a police enigma that as such sustains his interest.

But it is love fou that is the main object of the narration, which proceeds with Ozon's usual fluidity, with its fair doses of dialogues and images, and with a colorful summer palette of eighties texture, delivered to the beauty and charisma of the protagonists, with that ease of French cinema when it comes to showing bodies and desire.

But we said that Summer of 85 is much more than his anecdote about a passionate coming of age: it is an essay on the story itself and its relationship with reality. Because, as happened in Dans la maison and other films by the director, the point of view takes on fundamental relevance. And the point of view is that of Alexis, since the voiceover and what the film shows correspond to the story he makes of his romance; it is his version of the facts and his subjectivity that are brought into play and staged. It is love fou, with his passion, his idealizations, his pacts, his asymmetries, his projections, his ways of processing loss and mourning, his perverse elements, in the voice of Alexis; the loving object/subject as salvation and as condemnation. And this also determines what fatally remains off screen (and out of narrative control), plunging Alexis and the viewer into impotence and despair. There is in Alexis's story a component of nostalgia that the director places in the abyss with nostalgia about an entire era.

In this way, a frequent topic in Ozon's cinema is staged - the elusive nature of reality and its insurmountable distance from the story - and with French cinema in general: the literary (in this case Alexis's notes) as articulator of a cinematographic story. The subjectivity permeating the story, but also and fundamentally, the perception of the loved one.

There is something joyous and fresh about this film that reminds us of Call Me By Your Name and the We Are Who We Are series, both by Luca Guadagnino (even Voisin seems like a more protean version of Chalamet) and also Chabrolian in the way he articulates the drama with the thriller.

Été 85 - François Ozon's teen love story

[eightylicious · 6/10 · 17 April 2022]

François Ozon is one of the new auteurs of French cinema. True to the spirit of his predecessors, especially Truffaut, he also deals with adolescence in some of his films. "Été 85", one of his latest works, is also the one in which teenagers play the most important role. It is a film full of nostalgia, that perfectly complements what seems to be a teen romance like no other.

In 1985, two teenagers, Alexis and Dave meet. The former's ships has capsized and so he needs to be rescued. The brave David comes and saves him. Not only from drowning, but also from lowliness. For, Alexis does not love girls. His preference lies more to men. This may sound completely normal today, but for the society of the time, it was something unacceptable. And so, the two heroes hide their love from everyone but an Englishwoman , Katy, who has come in France as an au pair. Unfortunately, luck is not on their side. David dies in a twist of faith. And now, Alexis has to decide whether he will fulfill the promise he gave his friend whilst he was alive: to dance on his grave.

Ozon's film is as much about gay love as it is about how the latter transcends death. Alexis and Dave truly love each other, and this shows. With "Été 85", Ozon essentially deconstructs the feeling of famous 80's films, and puts them in a different spectrum.

In France during that time, homosexuality was a taboo topic. Because of that, the cinema didn't dare explore it. Instead, the spectators were offered stories of heterosexual, middle class teenagers searching for love in the opposite sex. For this reason, when David puts the headphones of a Walkman in Alexis's ears, this is not only a tribute to cult teenage film "La Boum" (1980), of which Ozon is an admirer, but also an interesting revision of the film, since for the first time, it becomes the story of people marginalised at the time of its release. Such a scene serves to show that am age now beloved also had a lot of faults, with the homosexuals of the generation that grew up back then having the chance to see their own stories on screen only forty years later.

The quite bizarre fixation of the characters on death also serves as a contradiction of the French 80's teen film tradition, in which the topic was either nonexistent, or treated more as something only implied and almost never shown on screen. By having the hero see his dead lover's corpse, Ozon takes advantage not only of the shock factor of the scene, but also of the fact that such a scene would have been deemed outrageous by the audience of the day. Only actors of the new generation could successfully pull out such a sequence, in which death is perceived not as much as a taboo, but rather a natural fact of life.

Not only does the film examine the 80's, it also embraces the decade. The soundtrack is fully composed of hits of the time, with The Cure, Raf and many more artists transporting the viewers to this neon-lit, glamorous age. It is as if the director took an episode of the chart show "Top 50" and put it in the film. Marc Toesca would have been proud.

The film is truly no commercial feature. It is an auteur film, one that dares to address sensitive topics with honesty, with a plot that sometimes feels more like material for philosophical discussion than the story of a film. It is a movie that takes a beloved decade and its film culture and turns it upside down. Nevertheless, "Été 85" succeeds in its goal: to show the other side of an allegedly innocent and fun time, while also embracing its carelessness. It's the two aspects of an age in one film. In the summer of 85, both of them were made clear.

A teen love story with too much drama but not enough development

[schorschi100 · 5/10 · 24 October 2020]

I decided to watch the movie with mixed feelings. The plot seemed not intriguing enough, but Ozon's name is (or at least was) a certain guarantee. Alas, the disappointment prevailed. In 8 femmes, Ozon managed to keep an unforgiving and at the same time uncommenting eye into the human behavior. The behavior itself developed the characters, and brought them together into a whole. Eté 85 is a mixture of Ozon and a try to mimic Almadóvar's way of looking into tragedy, which unfortunately fails completely. The scenes are great, the actors true to their characters, but what comes out is a story swaying between a kitsch gay teenagers' love affair and a family drama. The ending is weird (I am referring to the court sentence), taking into account the fact that the subject of homosexuality was at the time socially unacceptable was extremely poorly part of the story to that point, with the exception of a vague reference to an uncle). None of the three main characters (Alexis, David and the mother, Mme Gorman) develop and their reactions throughout the film are irrational, somewhere between funny and stupid, in a combination which simply does not work. Kate's acting is miserable, same as Alexis' parents. The only convincing character, if any, is probably the social worker.

Concluding, this is a mediocre film to watch if you are into gay dramas and have nothing better to do. Matches up the standards of east asian gay drama series, but not the ones of main stream cinematography, and is definitely not Ozon's most brilliant accomplishment.

One major subtitle fail

[frosk-71966 · 24 April 2021]

Toward the end of the movie, Alexis asks the teacher a question about David, which is subtitled: "Did he seduce you, too?" The teacher replies something like: "Yes, but he was my student, and I was his teacher." This is confusing to an English speaker, because the teacher seems at once to be admitting to and denying a physical relationship with David. The confusion is owing to the subtitles. In French the verb Alexis uses is séduire, which can mean seduce. But it can also mean.attract, charm, allure, beguile, etc. From the teacher's answer, it's clear that the subtitle should use one of these words, and not seduce, because the point is that while David charmed the teacher, and perhaps tried actively to seduce him, he did not succeed.

Call me by your name French version

[ks-60500 · 6/10 · 1 July 2021]

Both are good and alike and recall everyone memories when young.

I liked it

[dreamlantern · 6/10 · 16 August 2021]

It was fun? I don't have any idea, just a movie for when you are bored.

Beautifully shot summer love

[chong_an · 8/10 · 17 September 2020]

In the title summer, on a beach town, two teenage boys meet while sailing and fall in love. The story is told mostly by way of an essay that recounts the events of the summer, which allows for selective disclosures (or not). Right at the start of the film, we know something bad has happened, but it takes most of the movie to find out what and why.

The young actors are natural, and the cinematography is gorgeous. Being set in 1985, I suppose it can't end in "getting married and living happily ever after", but there is maturity and hope.

Solid Film About Love and Grief

[etarmstrong · 7/10 · 28 May 2023]

This transitional film takes us on the character's journey from first love to first heartbreak to first grief. Although slow paced at times, the timeline cut scenes allow you to feel Alex's pain while experiencing his bliss. What lacks in the film's love story is time to bring that summer romance to life. It would have been a pleasant surprise to see more of their summer together, small moments, big moments, as well as the exploration of David's boredom approaching. Additionally, the story fails to offer us more of Kate becoming the catalyst for David and Alex's downfall.

The acting was phenomenal in my opinion and I hope to see these actors in more projects that allow them to spread their wings.

Best film of the year.

[SamJamie · 9/10 · 30 December 2020]

What do you dream of when you're 16-years-old and in a seaside resort in Normandy in the 1980s? A best friend? A lifelong teen pact? Scooting off on adventures on a boat or a motorbike? Living life at breakneck speed? No. You dream of death. Because you can't get a bigger kick than dying. And that's why you save it till the very end. The summer holidays are just beginning, and this story recounts how Alexis grew into himself.

"Summer of 85" reminds us what makes the film so great, blending the energy of youth with the curveballs of fate. It's a story that's frequently awkward, sincere and truthful about adolescence in a way you don't see much nowadays. Every element of Summer's craft makes you swoon, and each scene is more touching than the next. It captures the joys and heartbreaks of first love, and the Seine-Maritime coast has never looked better than it does as lensed by cinematographer Hichame Alaouie. The film has fresh and vibrant performances, from newcomers Félix Lefebvre and Benjamin Voisin, spot-on costumes and gorgeous cinematography - it's shot in 16mm to evoke an earlier era. It's one of the best coming of age stories in recent memory.

It was good

[srgymrat33 · 6/10 · 22 December 2023]

This wasn't a great film . The chemistry was believable enough and the plot line fairly predictable with some interesting side characters and decent dialogue. The cinematic effects were pretty weak - ie in one scene it's raining on the windows and it's a bright blue sky outside .

The mom of David was perplexing , not a good character and difficult to understand her motivations .

My main beef is probably that it felt like a copy of "call me by your name " although this is a book so maybe the other was actually the copy - either way - this was worth the watch one time and it was tragic and hopeful and somewhat slow all at the same time .

Summer lovin', had me a blast. Summer lovin', happened so fast

[laduqesa · 8/10 · 20 April 2021]

The boys meet while separately out boating and sixteen year old Alexis falls in love immediately with eighteen year old David. We know from the start that the relationship is doomed but we obviously don't know how and why. Hints and fragments emerge from the text - and it is a text. Alex is writing the events of the six week romance as a way of explaining his criminal actions to a social worker.

The running length of the film whirls past just as the summer romance between the lads does. During the affair, things are revealed that start to show that all is not well - David goes back to the drunk guy they rescued, he hints at a deeper relationship with the literature teacher, mum is clearly worried about him and asks his younger friend to keep an eye on him, it turns out the boat was not dealt with.

Alex is blind to it all and is blissfully happy in his first proper love affair. They do things young besotted teenagers do - drink, go to fairgrounds, have punch ups with rival guys, drive dangerously on the Suzuki. They exchange kisses and embraces and make love while David's mum is doped up on sleeping pills.

It all comes crashing down and when it does, the events take a gruesome and tragic turn of events. Alex is in trouble. He had made David a promise he thought he would not have to keep either at all or for many years but is now obliged to carry it out. On the way to this, he's helped by his English acquaintance who offers the apercu that he was in love with an idea and not the person. It's the definition of puppy love.

Frantic typing feverishly results in clarity both for David and the court and his story ends as far as the film is concerned but carries on beyond its ending with another boat ride; our imaginations can envisage the course of his life now that he's learnt a lesson and is a bit wiser to the ways of the world.

As always, Ozon's storytelling is masterful as is the cinematography. The choice of music was perfect. "In between days" by The Cure framed the film and I can't imagine anything more apt especially once the film was complete.

The two leads played their parts fantastically. The supporting cast were not fleshed out but didn't need to be. Their characters were recognisable cliches that could be found in a French provincial town nearly forty years ago and simply drove the plot along.

I do recommend this film.

....

[ievavash · 7/10 · 9 July 2021]

It was my mistake to wait something like Call me by your name.

Undercooked, pseudo-tragic love story does not deliver beyond one extraordinary scene

[Groverdox · 5/10 · 21 October 2020]

I wonder if Francois Ozon has lost his touch a little bit. This is the guy who made riveting, distressing, transgressive films like "Sitcom" and "Criminal Lovers". While he still has the ability to shock by showing you something different, I thought "Double Lover" was a tedious story aside from such moments, and the same has to be said for "Ete 85".

It opens with an extraordinary sequence of events. A teen is sailing in a boat which capsizes. He is rescued by another teen, who takes him to his home, where not only does his mother run a bath for the beleaguered boy, she also strips him naked and is plainly seen to be inspecting his goods.

The movie doesn't keep up with surprising moments like these, however. It turns into an undercooked story of a homosexual love affair between these two boys, which ends in tragedy, as they so often do. We don't see enough of the two of them together to really believe in or care about their romance, and the characters never really come alive.

You get the impression that the ending is supposed to be touching, but it really wasn't.

Ozon is known for his frank and uncompromising approach to sex in films, so it is a surprise that there's none to be found here. The movie literally leaves us at the bedroom door when the boys have their first night of love: the door shuts on the camera, leaving us stranded in the hallway.

It also introduces a charming, homely English girl, who we are later expected to believe has caused problems for the boys' relationship. But how? Perhaps, as a gay man, Ozon doesn't know how to cast a real femme fatale who could actually end something like two teenage boys' first gay romance.