Last Summer

This is an extraordinary film in so many ways, done with consumate grace. How amazing that a movie about two teenage boy lovers has for its moment of passion the 'yearning embraces' of sneaker-covered feet. Brilliant! The snail's pace of the film, accompanied by perfectly matching music, Beethoven...Schuman, exactly fits the relationship portrayed here; the maturity of the love between the two young men is startling, highlighted as it is by the disparity in academic aptitude separating them. There is obviously an intelligence of a higher type that connects them. Contrary to one earlier comment, this movie is poetic, but even in its poetry it more truly creates a kind of moving painting. Does anyone who looks at the Mona Lisa think it a pointless endeavor simply because it is impossible to determine why she is smiling?

The first four minutes are different patterns, starting close up and eventually zoom out with music playing. There are no words. This is indicative of the rest of the film. You may as well go outside and enjoy the sounds of nature than this film.

It’s like Terrence Malick and Bruce Weber had a baby that went to film school. There’s not even a plot, just shots of random images that go on for 2 minutes, 4 minutes, 37 minutes. There is literally a scene of paint drying.

This should have been a short film, twenty minutes tops. While I appreciated the depiction of two out gay teens whose problems don’t revolve around their sexuality, this was not a movie. It lacked plot, the director seemed so enamored of lingering shots of trees and bugs and skin that he forgot to actually capture his main characters. By the end, we still know very little about the two boys, why they’re together, and why being apart is going to be so traumatic. This was a snapshot of life that lacked context to give it meaning. As a concept, it needed to be developed into a real story. I don’t need melodrama or high stakes, but I do need fleshed out characters that I can care about. This movie failed so utterly on nearly every account that I can’t recommend it to anyone.

4.5 * Much of the actual plot of the Last summer is its concept. The film presents us with two teenage boyfriends (Luke and Jonah), drastically different in their personalities but thriving as a romantic pair, whose time together, as implied by the title, is swiftly coming to an end. Instead of their relationship disintegrating or fizzling out slowly, Luke and Jonah strain to maintain every last moment together as cherished moments, putting their separation on the back burner of their minds. What I got from this film was the question of how can you live contentedly in the moment when there is the expectancy of longing, of something soon to be missing from your life — and this exploration is, in my opinion, more than enough plot to satisfy me. Of course, the cinematography was beautiful and the sparsity of language just intensified how much emptiness Luke was beginning to experience. That said, Last Summer is certainly not for everything. Watching the movie, my head felt very clear and I used this to fill in the “empty spaces.” For, what Last Summer lacks in spoken language, it makes up for in visuality, body language and social commentary. I can imagine how many people would find this off-putting, simply because of how people like plot to presented, to be told, not to be shown.

Overall I liked the film and think that 3 Stars is a fair assessment. The movie is a nice view into the lives of two out (gay) teenage boys growing up and out of their small town. While I was excited to see the movie, I kept wondering when it was really going to pick up, or if any real struggles would arise. None do; no high-point, no low-points. The cinematography is lovely, if not a little in-your-face about it’s Indie-status. The acting was fine and it’s not too long, which is good but it does still drag just a tad as some of the scene openings can take a few minutes for dialog to start. If you’re looking for a quiet night movie that is not mainstream and nothing gets blown-up, sit down and watch.

There is not much to this film. It is visually beautiful but there’s virtually no plot, almost no dialogue and you hardly get to know the 2 main characters at all. I was bored.

I enjoyed the simplicity of the message of the film. No heavy overtones or useless conversations. It was poignant, strong and reminiscent of my youth as I had hoped it would be. The ending was melancholy buy understandably so. A sense of wonder lost and yet found. An almost Summer Of ’42 feeling of something that was moving and yet never truly the same again. I thought this film allowed a positive message of two young men without exploration usually found in gay films. The sadness which the film implied is not singular to just these two young lover’s but to each one of us that embarks on any quest, separating us from the people and places we love. Change us as the love we carry is meant to do. I applaud this film and hope it gains it’s rightful place amongst the few positive gay films I have seen.

Contemplation is not enough… It’s not even a poem. It’s just boring.

One can struggle to search for clues to the time period of the film’s setting, but that would be a waste: just take in the textures and tones, ebbs and elations.