In Summer of 85, writer-director François Ozon pours on the romance and nostalgia. This is a dreamy tale of first love leading to obsession and, finally, a tragedy. Ozon tricks us into thinking that this story is much, much darker than it turns out to be.
In a Northern French beach town. two teen boys meet cute via a capsized watercraft. Alexis (Félix Lefebvre) doesn’t know his way around the locale (or a lot of things), and is fascinated by David (Benjamin Voisin). whose mom (Valeria Bruni Tedeschi) runs the local fishing supply store. Alexis is utterly captivated, and the two become inseparable…until one of them is distracted by a bright shiny thing.
Ozon (Swimming Pool, Potiche) adapted the screenplay from an Aidan Chambers novel. Summer of 85 is a teen coming of age story embedded in Ozon’s reflection on how we remember our youth. Remember that teenagers tend to look at everything on their lives as momentous, and they magnify the drama.
Summer of 85 has garnered an astonishing 12 César nominations (the French Oscar equivalent). Some viewers will not be satisfied by the ending of this well-crafted film.
Summer of 85 opens tomorrow, June 18, in Bay Area theaters, including the Landmark chain.