A Summer's Tale Details

[Highly rated reviewer]

Dont waste your time

I think you either like this or hate it....theres no in between really. I actually felt that I had been cheated out of the use of my time when this reached its closing credits. A dreadful film that had no character development and actually rather dull and boring people to start with...perhaps that was the point, but it was lost on me. Dreadful, really dreadful. Waste of time...I am staggered that the director of this film is regarded as a genius....perhaps a genius in the art of boring people to death?

Slow but sure

Agreed- it was slow to develop, but it needs to be seen in its entirety to appreciate the underlying dramas for the characters depicted. Rohmer's interview deals with the techniques he used and this film should be seen as one facet of his distinctive quartet of related films. While the central character is undemonstrative, much goes on behind the scenes for all of the characters, understood largely in retrospect, when reflecting on the apparent lack of drama. There is humour for the onlooker, but angst for him through indecision. The film does capture the tensions involved in the relationships of young people, although the older onlooker might wonder what all the fuss is about! Not a great film, but it is perceptive.