Movielogr
Last Summer (1969)
Directed by Frank Perry
Twitter Facebook Google+Overview
During summer vacation on Fire Island, three young people become very close. When an uncool girl tries to infiltrate the trio’s newly found relationship, they construct an elaborate plot that has violent results.
Rated R | Length 95 minutes
Actors
Barbara Hershey | Richard Thomas | Catherine Burns | Bruce Davison | Ernesto Gonzalez | Conrad Bain | Lou Gary | Eileen Letchworth | Peter Turgeon | Ralph Waite | Andrew Krance | Wayne Mayer | Maeve McGuire | Ed Stevlingson | Lydia Wilen
Viewing History (seen 1 time)
| Date Viewed | Device | Format | Source | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 02/18/2013 | TV | VHS | Borrowed | 4.5 stars |
| (Average) 4.5 stars |
Viewing Notes
When people ask me why I still bother with VHS, I could just give a laundry list of statistics about how many movies aren’t available in any other format. It’s more helpful, though, to point to specific movies like LAST SUMMER, genuinely great films that can be seen no other way. (Ok, other than a TCM screening here or there or via a recently uncovered 16mm print, but you get the idea.)
LAST SUMMER is a dark and fairly shocking tale of unchecked and misplaced teenage sexual frustration. It works due to the near-perfect cast. Barbara Hershey, Richard Thomas and Bruce Davison are all superb as the tight-knit threesome on which the movie mainly focuses but it’s the relatively obscure Catherine Burns as the outsider Rhoda that really nails the necessary emotional landing.
There are so many themes at work here, all of them handled with deft nuance. The focus is so narrow and pinpointed that the only two adult characters we really meet are themselves guilty of sexual perversions/hangups, a glimpse into the not-so-promising futures of these privileged-yet-repressed teens.
A splendid film in need of rediscovery.
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