Un jour d'été (2006 TV Movie) User Reviews

Too hard trying to be too much...

[axolos · 6/10 · 2 April 2007]

Do not understand me wrong, this movie is not bad at all. But it is mediocre in the sense of the feelings it tries to transmit. It tries to be too much: a coming-of-age movie, including sexuality uncertainties and explorations, a movie about a family's drama, about a community's tragedy, about the loss of a friend... It is precisely this unfocused view, which it definitely stumbles upon and falls. Not too hard but still, other directors have managed better before (Christophe Honoré's Close to Leo for example).

Sebastien is being portrayed like a marble statue with no emotions on, not only incapable of feelings himself but also unable to provide us with an incentive to care. The same is true for the mother, the mayor, Francis... each person is trapped in his or her role, without the freedom to move around. In the end, it was not Sebastien, nor Mickael but the mayor who finally goes through a catharsis moment and is worth to watch. Some may call this acting subtle... I tend to regard it as immature.

A tender portrait of love and loss

[marcelproust · 8/10 · 2 April 2007]

As Un jour d'ete came to an end the person behind me turned to his companion and said: "Why on earth would they show this film at a gay film festival?" There may be some truth in that question, but although the "gay" nature of the film may be debatable, the quality of the script and the performances mean that this is a film that shouldn't be pigeon-holed but deserves as wide an audience as possible.

The premise is simple: the accidental death of a popular member of the local football team throws a small community into turmoil. The boy's mother, who has already lost a husband, must now come to terms with her grief. The town's mayor must face the fact of his office's possible culpability. And, most touching of all, the dead boy's friend must face the future.

This is a film about loss - and at times is painful to watch. It is always wonderfully acted - not least by the incandescentally beautiful Baptiste Bertin as Sebastien - and filmed, although the limitations of a tight budget are sometimes apparent.

The "gay" angle is subtly understated. A homoerotic sensibility is in evidence in the way that the (often shirtless) Sebastien is filmed, and in the complicated relationship he has with the mayor's handsome son Francis (Brice Hillairet). Is Sebastien gay? Bisexual? Ultimately I don't think it's important. His loneliness is palpable, and he has trouble reaching out to others and sharing what is in his heart. I think many gay men - young or not - can relate to that.

"A telephone call to the right person can..........

[arizona-philm-phan · 26 December 2008]

........make for a happy future."

This summer's day tale introduces us to the lives of both an older man and a late-teenage youth. The first is someone of substance, occupying a position of civic importance......but a someone who is soon to undergo a life trial involving an unexpected death. The second, and most important of these two characters, is our young lead (Sebastien or Seb), a beautiful boy who we will follow through a time of unrequited love and during the emotional upheaval resulting from his loss of a loved one. (( Most important to Sebastien's future, we will also come to know Francis, son of the town mayor. Throughout the entire story, we watch as he comes to show more and more interest in our young lead. The kind of interest displayed by Francis becomes quite clear to us---and to Seb---as events progress. Possibly, in this young man lies Sebastien's salvation )).

In addition to those characters already mentioned, we will come to know a Mother who we see suffer through the unexpected loss of a son (Mickael), and importantly, we will observe a developing relationship between she and her deceased son's best friend, Sebastien. We will also discover that this mother and even Mickael's older sister (Noemie) are coming to represent, for Sebastien, stand-ins for the violently lost Mickael (that dear friend who had been, unknowingly to him, becoming the love of Seb's life).

It is in the character of this mother that we see begin to unfold a most understanding and perceptive person. Even though never having met Seb while her son was still living, when she later does so, she quickly comes to sense the great depth of Seb's emotional loss. We watch this occur when, out on a walk together, "S" moves behind and embraces her, desperately hoping for another chance of closeness with a now departed Mickael. She realizes immediately what she must do and kindly tells Sebastien he should leave for the time being. Similarly, we're given an end of film camera shot involving Seb's wedding party dance with new bride, Noemie. It is a scene so achingly tender we're left almost breathless, as we watch and become aware this young man is sensing it is, indeed, his last opportunity to hold lost love, Mickael. Then sweetly, Noemie, being aware of his deep feelings of loss, lets the moment play out. It is at this point, one to which the director has certainly guided us, that we realize Sebastien is consciously choosing to move on with his life.

So, in the end, we will have watched the building of "two" new leases on life:

• That of an older man (the town Mayor, who has survived both his own near death and an investigation into possible wrongdoing involving death of another) and......

• (Most importantly in this film) that of a young man who discovers himself through the choice of not committing a crime and, near film's end, by "opening a door" (we see this in the form of a simple telephone call, made to reconnect with someone crucial to his future life and happiness).

PS--Other films you may find interesting: "Just a Question of Love" / "Shelter" / "Brokeback Mountain" / "Boy Culture" / "All Over the Guy" / "Second Skin" / "The Man I Love" / "The Man of My Life" / "Oh Happy Day" / "Fashion Victims"

****

It is a made for TV film

[didier-20 · 25 February 2010]

It is odd that this film was taken up by the gay film distribution networks and even put on DVD for distribution. There is an unresolved subtle and all- but-avoided ambiguity around the lead Sebastian, but it's more of a tease than anything substantial and i wonder who exactly it is in there for ? I find the 'use' of sexuality in this style a mixed bag. It aims for an understated (hence sophisticated) liberal inclusiveness whilst at the same time seeking to contextualise discourses on sexuality in new ways. However, in the end there is little if nothing at all to hold onto and consequently the sexuality question defaults elsewhere, in this case supporting an idea about male grief rather than male identity. Somehow i end up feeling led down the garden path.

For a made-for-TV-movie, the film is better than average in that it's subject is thought provoking. But for cinema, it's very average & typical french fayre, a little over laboured at times as it plods through the pedestrian small town conservative angst via an up-market televisual approach.

The main subject of 'loss' prevails and touchingly drives the whole forward and the acting is well observed though i found all the characters portrayed 2 dimensional, monosyllabic and lacking warmth or life for that matter. It left me not caring on occasion and wondering what i was doing sticking to the end. It's as much a snapshot of the prevailing french catholic conservative character that dominates much of provincial France as much as it's a story about human responses to loss.

about solitude

[Kirpianuscus · 30 November 2016]

a small community. a death. and the veil of grief, lose, desire to reconquest the right rhythm of life, ambiguous gestures and dialogues. and a delicate beauty. the last is the key of this impressive film about solitude and about the questions out of answers. the first virtue - the great performances. the second - precise kilt of emotions and fragility.more than a story, it is picture of a form of captivity. the characters as silhouettes, the dialogues as paper bridges, the desire to explain as illusion. and the reaction of mayor like the moment of the truth. so, it is hard to define it. because each character needs defines himself. the result - a lot of suggestions. and the shadow of the answers.