harwee h
Much enjoyable. Hepburn at her finest. Lovely cast. Bittersweet ending.
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
12/19/23
Full Review
j F
Katherine Hepburn at her best, and she was amazing! Also small details add to the film throughout and Venice was gorgeous.
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
11/06/23
Full Review
John A
Can't say that it strikes me as one of David Lean's 'mandatory viewing' movies yet I was continuously carried away by the semi-existential dreaminess and rich photography.
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
10/26/23
Full Review
Audience Member
The name of actress Katherine Hepburn is always associated with striking and decisive women as well
as courageous and fearless. She was always a woman far ahead of her time who with her unique
talent developed and created memorable characters in the history of cinema. It was not for nothing
that she won 4 Academy Awards as best actress, a feat that remains unparalleled.
Potentially influenced by this, English director David Lean and an incredible group of artists met in
1955 for the theater play's adaptation "The Time of the Cuckoo" by author Arthur Laurent's starring
Ms. Hepburn. The result of this collaboration of talents is the film; "Summertime" and in United
Kingdom: "Summer Madness" in which the charm and charisma of the main star shines like always
she does.
The Time of the Cuckoo is a play by Arthur Laurents. It focuses on the bittersweet romance between
Leona Samish (Jane Hudson, for the movie version), a single American executive secretary vacationing
in Europe and Renato Di Rossi, a shopkeeper she meets in Venice. Di Rossi, trapped in a loveless
marriage, relentlessly pursues Jane, who initially is shocked by the thought of an illicit affair but
eventually succumbs to the Italian's charms.
In the film, Kate is Jane Hudson an independent single woman over 40's who lives alone but is not
lonely because she has many friends back home in Ohio/US. She proclaims herself "fancy secretary"
and finally saving up, it was time to travel around Europe and thus fulfill one of her old dreams.
In the interesting opening credit sequence of Summertime, we learn that she has visited London and
Paris and finally by train is arriving in Venice with all the enthusiasm of a first-time tourist. This is also
captivating because as such, it further accentuates the character's ingenuity and allure.
Her interactions with the first characters of the film are very lively, as well as the arrival at the train
station, plus the boarding of the boat/bus in which she meets another American couple also on
vacation in Europe and who, like Jane, are getting together staying at Penzione Fiorini, where much of
the film takes place. 70% of the movie takes place on the streets of Venice and even the studio scenes
were also filmed in the city. This film would be the last one with a running time of 1h40m for David
Lean who would go on to make his subsequent films with no less than 3h3m on average.
Director David Lean seems absolutely comfortable with the actress who dominates this character with
her technique and classic style that have always been her trademark. Kate has almost always played
strong, determined and striking women, in this film she plays a woman who, despite being sure of
herself, has a fragility in the field of love with typical American values - which is not necessarily a bad
thing but which certainly brings a lot of limits to her life and even to her career. In other words she
has a very romantic and perfect vision of life and as we all know things are not quite like that in
everyday life full of everyday taboos.
One of the characters who seems to understand and connect with Jane and Mrs. Fiorini (Isa Miranda)
who owns the pension. She is a very attractive Italian widow who alone maintains the small hotel or
penzione as it called. At one point she tells Jane: "Luck always happens in Venice, but we always have
to give it a little push."
It is with this thought in mind that Jane decides to venture through the streets of Venice and ends up
meeting the little street boy Mauro (Gauteno Autiero) who has plenty of charisma. David Lean has
always been perfect in casting children for his films.
Several comical moments are interspersed throughout the film, especially when Jane and Mauro
venture through the streets of Venice, until the moment in the film comes in which Jane by herself, is
in Piazza San Marco (one of the most picturesque places in the world) observing various couples
around, until by chance, she also discovers that she is being watched by Renato (Rossano Brazzi) who
was at a nearby table to Jane's discomfort, who doesn't know how to deal with that situation in which
she finds herself and in panic she runs back to the pension completely desolate.
The next morning, accompanied by little Mauro, she decides to go shopping around town. It is there
that she finds in an antique shop that has a red goblet in the window that she is interested in
purchasing. To her surprise, the shop owner is the same man from Piazza San Marco as the day
before. Renato, also surprised and delighted, then presents himself once again leaving Jane
disoriented but discreetly falls for him.
Incidents will happen during the film between the two central characters who then supports the plot.
As the story unfolds, it is possible to say that as spectators we are immersed with Jane and desperate
in the hope that she will finally find the long-awaited romance on this trip of her dreams. But
obstacles will impose themselves for Jane, who will have to overcome them somehow.
The film is absolutely magical in large part also because of Jack Hildyard's cinematography that
captures the magic of the city of Venice as well as Alessandro Cicognini's triumphal music that seems
to sing and touch our already enamored hearts. This, of course, has everything to do with the assured
direction of one of the greatest English directors of all time: Sir David Lean, who after this film would
present us with his anthological epics rarely equaled in movie history.
With the perfect crew this film transcends the commonplace that most romantic films of that era have
generally established. This film has something more and I like to think that it refers to the talents
involved in this project. David Lean said in one of his many interviews it all starts with a good story
which in this case is an adaptation of a great play. Venice to this day is a city associated with romance
and this film is all about that. Prepare your hearts.
Rated 4.5/5 Stars •
Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars
01/24/23
Full Review
andres s
Technicolor is so gorgeous to look at, I wish they still made movies in this format. Venice seems like such a unique city. Everything sits on top of water so all of the transportation is reliant on boats and gondolas. Even the firefighters are on a boat. That's irony right there lol. Man that room she's staying in is an artists' dream. All the big open windows that look out into the canals and the streets. Venice sure looks beautiful.
David Lean has this very visually delightful way of filming things. Especially when setting up the composition for a landscape or wide angle shot. Overall the movie, although visually pretty to look at, bored me. There wasn't anything really mentally stimulating about it and there wasn't anything that really made you think or challenged you while watching it. I give it a meh, ok.
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
03/30/23
Full Review
Audience Member
at the very least you can't find a movie about a "spinster" anymore. I thought Hepburn played this very reticent person that had mixed feelings about romance which is really nice to see, not a perspective that is put front and center in movies usually (and therefore somewhat pathologized). it was a very beautiful movie that actually showed the city of Venice, which is a shock to my modern sensibilities where most movies are drab and boring (anyone see the new Charlie's Angels? it was set in a bunch of different European cities, but somehow didn't capture anything about them). I thought the representation of "foreign person" is very different from today's so-called "representation" debate, which assumes everyone is essentially American but also a different skin tone or something, which isn't actually the case if you know anyone not from the US. this actually showed the desire and considerations for love which are completely different, he continually challenges Hepburn's character, which makes American romantic love seem bizarre (a very good thing.)
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
02/01/23
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