AniInterview Sorry, this movie sucks

CommentsXp Best movie ever!

Aiden Melton The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

Scarlet The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

daoldiges I originally saw this film on the small screen many years ago and recently had the chance to see on the big screen and am so happy that I did. It really is a visual delight. The story is solid and handled at what I find a languid, leisurely summertime pace. Venice really is stunning but one of my visually favorite scenes is when Kate's character, Jane Hudson arrives at her pensione and is shown her room for the first time, there's something about her room that I find kind of magical and in which I would like to stay myself. I'm a little torn regarding how I feel about Hepburn's performance though. There are scenes where her acting feels mannered, and others where she is quite aggressive in her performance. Yet on the other hand I think she, and the film, does a good job in expressing the challenges one deals with as a solo traveller. I also have to admit there were times when I asked myself how someone as attractive and suave as the Rosanno Brazzi character could find someone as cold and uptight as Jane Hudson appealing. The films ending was interesting and appropriate and one that is true to the character of Jane Hudson. Despite some reservations/questions, I really, really enjoyed this film and am certain that I will see it again at some point in my future.

TheLittleSongbird David Lean was, and still is, a wonderful director, one of my personal favourites. Summertime may not be one of his very best but it is still a very good film.All of the films seen so far from him (Lawrence of Arabia, Bridge on the River Kwai, Great Expectations, Brief Encounter, Oliver Twist, Hobson's Choice, In Which We Serve, Summertime, Doctor Zhivago, Ryan's Daughter, A Passage to India and Blithe Spirit), in order of preference) have ranged from very good to outstanding, and Summertime is around the middle of those films.There is very little to dislike here, the story is a bit thin and a little slow in places and the secondary cast, while good still, don't have a lot to do and do feel very secondary. The ending is also a touch abrupt. However, there are two main reasons to see Summertime. One is Katharine Hepburn, initially it does seem like unlikely casting but seeing the film it turned out to be inspired casting, in a sensitively vulnerable, poignant and very charming portrayal it is to me among her better performances from the middle of her very long career. The other reason is the scenery of Venice itself, it is simply gorgeous, aided by Jack Hildyard's fabulously sumptuous cinematography and quite rightly treated like a character itself.On top of being so visually pleasing, it is very sensitively directed by Lean and the music is remarkably evocative and pleasing on the ear. Summertime is also a very well-written film, with some sparkling, witty moments and a lot of nuanced poignancy, and while the story could have easily been nothing special it has so much sweetness, charm and nuance that elevate it to a greater level. The ending, while a little abrupt, is also exciting and poignant with a Brief Encounter influence, while the touch with the flower is remarkably tender and the romantic chemistry between Hepburn and Rossano Brazzi is very sweet.Brazzi has been known to be wooden, but he is far from it here, instead he brings suavity and charm to a smarmy character. The characters may not be the most sympathetic or well-developed in the world, but they're so well played it doesn't hinder the film at all. There have been films where the lack of likable characters has been a problem, but these characters were never supposed to be, at least they don't do anything stupid, are over-acted or underplayed to the point of their acting being non-existent or have irritating personalities or voices, so in this case this criticism is not a fair one.In conclusion, while not one of Lean's best Summertime is still a very good film, that has Hepburn's performance and the beauty of Venice as its prime attractions. 8/10 Bethany Cox

chaos-rampant The romance here isn't really satisfying, between wiry, uptight woman from Ohio touring Europe and suave Italian antique shopkeeper. It has the usual narratives motions of this type of film but not the deep conviction, the right notes but they don't amount to music for the soul.But do away with the obvious narrative thrust and there's something here. The place is marvelous of course, Venice. Touristy even then but still fragnant and raw from centuries, what I like here is that we wander a little further into the small Italian village that exists between the palazzos, we see backyards with laundry hanging from wires, narrow passageways and empty streets at dawn. Lean tries to weave several fabrics into this, several types of camera.My favorite by far is the sense of the stranger in a new place, the place is teeming with possibility and beauty but there's something holding her back, we have this wonderful tension between wanting to explore and expose oneself and being afraid to. Hepburn wonderfully anchors this part, a fragility and unease she must have known on her skin. The camera is ordinary, capturing a woman pacing back and forth in a veranda drowned with plants and sunlight.We have a painterly eye, as mannered as the romance and used in it to pluck a certain beauty from place, sunsets and panoramas. There's a great scene with a white gardenia (standing in for lost time and youth, wasted opportunity) being carried by the water at night, the man leans in to get it for her but it slips away, all things must. Another is a dynamic eye, seen most clearly in the parting scene as he chases her train leaving Venice to hand her a going away present and she runs back through wagons to meet his hand. No dice again, the motion parts them.Lean would evolve and combine all these in Lawrence, this however romances me more. It's perched somewhat uneasily between the old Hollywood of crisp, loaded gestures and the new cinema of Rossellini where the gestures sketch a more tentative time.

Rocco Campanaro Hepburn truly shines as the strong-minded, yet stunningly gorgeous and deeply vulnerable middle-class Secretary Jane Hudson in what has been the long-awaited holiday of a lifetime. Hepburn in her sixth Oscar-nominated performance as the strong-minding and "independent" Ms Hudson finally learns why so many have fallen in love in - and with – the most romantic city in the world. Shot and recorded in beautiful Venice, this picture serves more than just a tender love story, it serves as a message for the immense possibilities and pleasures of a journey given that we work hard for it.It was a joy to see Hepburn's talents turn to romantic comedies than the usual unapproachable, cold and stern women we have seen in the pictures like Morning Glory (1933) and The Philadelphia Story (1941). Hepburn's cheeky catching on of the Italian language adds to what really is this special little picture – a touch of class and innocent love in a completely different world.In what appears to be the holiday break from hell, Hepburn's character befriends a charming homeless Italian boy who takes her across Venice to all the sites she wants to see before meeting and falling in love with the equally-as-charming and the terribly handsome Mr de Rossi. de Rossi appears to inject a different side that we typically see the great Katherine Hepburn; an innocent and free-spirited woman who simply just wants to live the memories in what is and has been a terrific holiday. The premise that the two can never be mirrors the impossibilities that were simply impractical given the time of filming, and what we should do now as modern audiences is to relinquish these beliefs and open our minds to a love that can happen between anyone – regardless of color, nationality or anything else.As the credits came in, I thought: "What was actually the climax of this film?" Is the climax when she learns of Mr de Rossi's secret life or the fact that she really has loved Venice? Or is it the train separating them further as de Rossi waves goodbye his American sweetheart. But, really, it doesn't matter - the whole point of the movie is to tell how love can happen in the most peculiar and random of places.All in all, a deeply touching picture that will leave one yearning for such a spontaneous romance to unexpectedly walk into their lives and a picture modern Hollywood should make note of. We certainly don't see movies like this anymore and it's a damn shame.