I have only attended one Film Festival, the Roger Ebert Film Festival in Champaign, IL.  Since I have gone to that festival for many years, I thought it would be a good idea to venture out to see what other film festivals had to offer, and that is what led me to journey to the land of Chicago, two hours north of me and attend the Chicago International Film Festival.  The festival runs from October 11th to October 22nd, and I decided to go to the festival from October 13th through the 15th.  Often, when you’re going to a new city, traveling to that new city is the most challenging part of the journey.  The journey north to Chicago was ordinary at first and then treacherous.  The rain constantly bashed our window and eventually broke the windshield, making it more challenging to get through traffic with good visibility.  My initial plan to spend time in Chicago began with seeing an old friend I had not spent time with since April of that year, Michael Phillips, with the Chicago Tribune.  He had decided through text earlier that week that he wanted me to meet him at Peri Peri Nando’s, and the review for that restaurant is in our food section.  I was particularly interested in the films, and we started that journey by seeing the movie The Beautiful Summer by director Laura Luchetti.  Luchetti and her collaborator Cesare Pavese wrote the film.

The story of the film is simple.  Ginia (Yile Yara Vianello) was a young seamstress in 1938 in Italy.  Her dream is to design extraordinary, beautiful dresses for famous people.  She has a brother, Severino, who also works in the mechanical industry, and she spends time with him by going out to the local river.  While there, on one beautiful summer evening, Ginia meets Amelia (Deva Cassel).  She is shocked that Amelia is very open with how she socializes with different individuals at the river and is enchanted by her lifestyle as a muse or model to painters.  Throughout the film, Ginia decides to emulate Amelia’s carefree lifestyle, jeopardizing many of her dreams and goals.
I only have a little time to watch Italian features, but this film tells me that I should at least investigate the idea of watching more movies by Italian writers.  Everyone goes on their journey when finding themselves.  This film happens to be a story of the LGBTQ plus people who are navigating a world at a time that would not accept them, and honestly, he doesn’t care that they exist.  Mussolini and the war were the most significant pressure on many Italian families.  The film works very hard to avoid concerning its story with the issues the war presents and thus narrows the focus strictly on our protagonist and her journey to understand and accept herself.
This delicate story would be nothing without the fantastic characters there are, inviting audiences to view their lives and their struggle.  The most substantial effort among them is the actress Yile Yara Vianello.  Even though she is the main character of this story, she has a level of empathy that pours out of every part of her performance as she’s trying to discover who she can become and struggling with why that’s so difficult to create for herself.  In her portrayal as Amelia, Deva Cassel does her best to try to put herself out there and throw herself into the role.  There are some specific instances where that level of energy truly works, but I never honestly bought the level of vulnerability that Cassel was trying to portray.  She often looked like she had too much fun in the role, and the profound moments with her did not land with me.  I needed a more grounded performance from her that showed the scared young woman genuinely diving into the world with the knowledge that even though her beauty took her far, she was out of her depth.
Late in the film, Amelia gets some immensely struggling news, and it’s almost like that character had to continue to put up the front because if she didn’t, the person closest to her would notice.  The problem is everyone around her noticed she wasn’t at her best, but culturally, it was probably improper to say anything.  For me, the major failing of this film is that you’ve got one character who is curious and allows herself to be vulnerable and another who is so carefree that the dangers don’t matter, and while it is a successful coming-of-age story, you only care about 1/2 of the romantic entanglement and that to me makes the film weaker than it should be.  The standout secondary player of this film is Nicolas Maupas.  His character works very hard to ensure that his sister stays grounded and pushes toward her dreams, and while that tactic does not always yield the fruit it’s supposed to, he is there at the correct times when she needs the support.
The Beautiful Summer had the opportunity to be a tremendous coming-age lesbian love story of the 2020s.  Still, unfortunately, its shortcomings in truly letting both of its characters be vulnerable let the film down significantly to the point where it is only good and not great.  Regardless, the filmmaker is one to continue to watch out for in terms of well-crafted stories.  She needs to make sure that whatever she does next, every character has something interesting about them to evolve from.
The Beautiful Summer (2023)
Film:
Replay Value:
Pros:
  • Beautiful cinematography
  • Both actresses sell the story
Cons:
  • Poor decisions on the part of the characters make events in the story feel unrealistic
  • You only end up caring about one of the characters
  • Even though the ending is positive, it doesn't leave the audience wanting more
3.0Overall Score

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