Summertime
Directed by David Lean
Written by Lean and H.E. Bates from a play by Arthur Laurents
1955/UK/USA
London Film Productions
Repeat viewing/Netflix rental
[box] Signora Fiorini: When in Italy, you should meet Italians![/box]
David Lean gives us all a romantic holiday in Venice.
Jane Hudson (Katharine Hepburn) is a secretary of a certain age. She has saved up the money to take a long holiday in Venice. She is traveling alone and her loneliness is palpable. She dives into all sights with gusto and understanding, however.
One day, as she is having a drink alone in an outdoor cafe on the Piazza San Marco, she notices a handsome man staring at her. This makes her uncomfortable. The next day she goes into a shop to inquire about a red glass goblet and it turns out that the man is the store owner, Renato de Rossi (Rossano Brazzi). He sells her the goblet and gets her address so that he can let her know if he finds a match to complete a pair.
Jane goes back to the store to ask if he has found the glass. He shows up at her penzione that night to ask her out. Jane is both terribly attracted and deeply suspicious of the Italian’s motives. We share their bliss, followed by Jane’s soul searching.
I could have looked at Lean’s portrait of Venice for hours without a story to keep my attention. But this is a pretty good tale as well. My least favorite Hepburn character is the 40-year-old virgin that she played for about a decade around this time. However, on revisiting the film, I found a lot to like about both her and the character. Not that I personally could have resisted Rossano Brazzi for more than a minute …
Summertime was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Director and Best Actress.
Clip – visit to Murano
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