Italian Film Fest 2024 Review - The Beautiful Summer
Images courtesy of the Italian Film Festival.
When I first heard the synopsis for Laura Luchetti’s 2023 film The Beautiful Summer I thought it was a film about fascism. After watching the first few minutes, I thought it was a film about romance. By the time I had finished, I realised it was a film about nothing.
The Beautiful Summer follows Gina, a young dressmaker living in Mussolini-controlled Italy. Based on a highly acclaimed novel of the same name, the film tells the story of her romance with professional life drawing model Amelia. From Amelia, Gina discovers a world of art and hedonism, trying both absinth and sex for the first time. A homosexual romance, a young girls’ coming of age, art and debauchery, all with the backdrop of fascism and looming war sound like an excellent recipe for a film, but somehow The Beautiful Summer completely misses the mark.
First let’s talk about fascism. References to Mussolini appear exactly three times in the film, all near the start. None of the references have any effect on the plot and by the end, they have not reappeared. The sense of foreboding from the coming war, and the oppressive government could have been riveting plot points. Instead we just get these rather limp references like some soldiers on a train or posters in the background.. It feels especially odd with the subject matter of the film, a gay romance. While we definitely don’t need another homophobia filled tragedy, if you’re going to set your film in one of the most homophobic times in history, it feels odd not to acknowledge it. Speaking of romance, that also leaves a lot to be desired. We see very little actual chemistry between the two leads. While they spend a lot of time touching hands in soft light, there’s a serious lack of emotional development between them.
The romance is not the only aspect of the film that feels uninspired, both the direction and the writing do as well. The film seemingly relies on the, admittedly beautiful, settings to keep visual interests high. There is also a shot where the camera quite obviously bumps into a flower vase in frame. This isn’t to say that a small mistake like that ruins a film - but it exemplifies the apparent lack of attention to detail on show.
Similarly, the story is not only lazy - it’s down right conservative. Having the sexually adventurous and queer character Amelia stricken with syphilis stands like some kind of moral judgement. She is seemingly punished for her progressive sexual lifestyle, a moral that makes little sense in a film that is ostensibly about romance. The Beautiful Summer avoids going full ‘kill your gays’ by having Amelia return at the very end, seemingly healthy, but thats too little too late when the rest of the film has been built upon the ideas of this trope.
Disappointingly The Beautiful Summer completely fails to meet the potential of its premise, it fails to provide any kind of interesting or well made film at all. If you like pretty Italian towns then you might find some enjoyment, but if you're looking for a compelling film I suggest you look elsewhere.
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The Beautiful Summer is screening as part of the 2024 Italian Film Festival. The Melbourne festival runs from the 20th of September to the 17th of October. For more info, click here.