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Summertime - Criterion Collection Customer Reviews (1 - 3 of 19 Reviews)

Katharine Hepburn more beautiful than ever in Venice!
David Lean's beautiful film "Summertime," adapted from the story "The Time of the Cuckoo" is a chance to see Katharine Hepburn come alive in unexpected ways. The film is shot all over Venice and Hepburn is the audience's eyes and ears to the sights and sounds of the beautiful city.

A lonely secretary alone on vacation (from Akron, Ohio- I'm from Canton, so this always makes me laugh when she mentions where she's from) , she falls in love with a married Italian glass shop owner, Roberto Rossellini.

Hepburn was 48 when she made this film, yet she looks probably 37, that's how in shape she kept herself. There's a scene in the film where Hepburn falls into one of the canals and after she did the stunt she got a permanent eye infection from the polluted waters.

The ending is always very sad, yet very beautiful. This film is lovely to watch anytime, but in the summer it's especially beautiful.



A beautiful romantic film

Summer Time is unforgettable for capturing the picturesque Venice at its best. The grand square surrounded by ancient churches, tall clock towers with moving scriptures, pigeons flying in the air as the bells chimed during the day, outdoor cafes with live orchestra at dusk, boats moving elegantly along the canal. Long top shots of the grand square with people (tourists and locals) as tiny figures walking in the square shows the vigour of life of the city. At the same time, it portrays the crowded Venice to its minuate detail. There was a shot allowing the audience to look at the bright blue sky through the very narrow alleys of packed houses. Housewives pouring used waters back to the canal. A place called rainbow and yet the balconies were lined with washed clothes.

Of course, there is the romantic side of Venice, as seen through the eyes of Katharine Hepburn. As a lone traveler with a movie recorder, she had saved money long enough to make her dream come true - to feel Venice and possibly find the love she had longed for. While she found it, she could not immediately face it because it was different from what she had expected. And when she had finally accepted it and felt the happiest as never before, she found the best way to cherish it for the rest of her life. The story concluded with an apt romantic ending.

Throughout the movie, the director David Lean had inserted ironies and surprises for the audience - A lone traveler who could afford to stay at one place versus a wealthy couple who went non-stop to many places; A seemingly well off hotel owner with a secret; what romance was in reality as seen by the Italian and by the American. The movie moved seamlessly between shots of the glamourous, poetic Venice and busy daily trades of Venice. In particular, the small Italian boy - street smart and passionate - enlightened the movie. And who can portray the lonely soul better than Miss Hepburn? Even a backshot of her waving goodbye in the last scene was visually enchanting.

Most important of all, for those who are dazzled by the beauty of the deserts in the film Lawrence of Arabia, you will be equally amazed by the historical beauty and busyness of Venice in Summer Time. And with the looming danger of rising sea level and pollution in Venice nowadays, Summer Time bore a lasting testimony to the beauty of the city on film.


David Lean and Katharine Hepburn together - who could ask for more? Well, how about Venice?
I only recently finished reading John Berendt's wonderful book on Venice, "The City of Falling Angels." I was so inspired that I hauled out my video of "Summertime" just to see Venice in the background. Imagine my horror when I put that video in the player and found that it had degraded considerably. Still I watched. Based on the Arthur Laurents play "The Time of the Cuckoo," the film has lost none of its power, and remains one of the major achievements of both David Lean and Katharine Hepburn (which is REALLY saying something).

A few weeks later my special friend Patty surprised me with this DVD. Even though I had only just watched the film, I couldn't wait to see how it would look on DVD. UNBELIEVABLE - what an incredible difference. The photography of Jack Hildyard is absolutely stunning! As is the case with most of Lean's films, the composition of each shot is a work of art unto itself, with "Summertime" that is especially true. Venice has rarely, if ever, been filmed this effectively.

I couldn't find a false note in this entire film. Hepburn is luminous. In one scene after another Hepburn brings this lonely lady to life. I am haunted by the figure of Hepburn at dawn, standing in a gondola, waving goodnight to her lover. The scene where she first enters the Piazza San Marco is breathtaking. I can barely hold myself together as she sits in the Piazza taking her coffee alone, hoping that Rossano Brazzi will appear. Suddenly he's there, but withdraws without joining her. In her folly she has made it appear that she is not alone. I thought my heart might break. Her face conveys a myriad of emotions all at once (she REALLY should have won the Oscar for her work here). The eventual romance, the inevitable parting, Brazzi running down the train platform with that single white gardenia.....oh, I get choked up just writing about it. This is simply one of the greatest love stories ever filmed. Don't miss it - whatever you do.

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