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.
Francois Ozon's 'Summer of 85' is a bittersweet film, one that ultimately encourages its audience to embrace the joy and the heartache of first love, along with the ephemerality of having a life-changing presence in your life.
Read Jake's full article... https://www.maketheswitch.com.au/article/review-summer-of-85-a-refreshingly-nuanced-coming-of-age-story
Félix Lefebvre (who reminded me, here, of a young Charlie Hunnam in "Queer as Folk" (1999)) is sixteen year old "Alex" who takes his friend's dinghy out for a sail and gets caught in a thunderstorm that capsizes his boat. Luckily for him, Benjamin Voisin ("David") is nearby and tows him ashore and into his mother's recuperative bathtub! The next six weeks are now depicted in a cleverly interwoven mix of current and recent storylines as we realise that a tragedy has occurred and that the two young men had something of a relationship during the intervening period. On the face of it - it's just a gay coming of age drama, but Levebvre has an intensity and innocence about him. His performance as the young man who falls so completely and utterly ...
