Friday, September 06, 2013

One of the Best End of Summer Movies




And my review of IN A WORLD in on Crimespree Magazine's site.

6 comments:

Anders E said...

An absolute, timeless classic. It's of course not just about the end of summer, but most of the characters have just graduated high school and are about to make something of themselves. And for a third layer, it's the end of an era and the 1960s are just about to truly kick in. At the time of it is set, The Beatles had recorded but not released "Love Me Do".

I saw this as an 11-year old one bitterly cold night in late 1974 and it was as I recall it the first time I was allowed to go into town without my parents (but with a bunch of friends) to watch a movie in the evening. What amazed me most at the time was how the characters stayed up all night, way into the morning. Could you REALLY do that? I'm still willing to watch this whenever there's an opportunity.

Btw, the soundtrack (I still have the double LP) is totally ace.

pattinase (abbott) said...

We stayed up all night on prom night, for instance. And once when we had only a lit cigarette and no lighter, a girlfriend and I took turns smoking the cigarette down and lighting the next one. We watched the sun come up and went to sleep. She is now dead sadly. Here's to
you, Merrie Hatzai.
I was around 26 when I saw it, with two young kids. It was almost from my era and Richard Dreyfus looks so young. Within a few years, he looked 20 years older.

James Reasoner said...

I love this movie and have watched it again and again. In 1963 I was a little younger than the characters in this movie, but I had an older brother and sister and tagged along with them a lot so almost everything looked pretty familiar to me. What a cast! What music! If it resonates with you, and it obviously does with me, it's almost a perfect film.

Anonymous said...

Patti - Oh, this is a superb film, on so many levels!

Anonymous said...

Anders, I agree with you on the soundtrack. We bought the double CD to replace the record a few years ago. It's one of the few places you'll find the original version of "See You in September" which I always found superior to the hyped-up Happenings remake.

We first saw it in a small theater in Paris in 1974. Once you got used to the French subtitles it was fine.

Jeff M.

Anders E said...

One thing about it I remember is how the era depicted seemed so ancient - and it was only 12 years back. Sure, I was only 11 at the time, but still - if there would be a movie today set in 2001 I wouldn't even notice.

Btw, The Crests' "Sixteen Candles" is probably THE perfect pop song.