TIFF 2020 Review: Summer of 85'

Title: Summer of 85'

Year: 2020

Director: Francois Ozon
Country: France

Language: French

I have seen a few of Francois Ozon's previous work (I have been meaning to see Frantz for quite some time) and while I've always been impressed, I never felt truly connected to his work. During the Toronto Film Festival of 2020 I decided "go to" a digital screening of Summer of 85 on a whim. Leading up to the screening I've heard mixed reviews, but my initial reaction is astonishment. This is fantastic cinema. I adore this film.


Two men, one named Alexis (Felix Lefebvre) & another named David (Benjamin Voisin) fall in love in a seaside resort in Normandy after Davis rescues Alexis from a capsized boat.


Based on the British 1982 YA novel Dance on My Grave by Aidan Chambers, Ozon transports the characters to Northern France. Ozon initially makes the picture seem like an obsessive pulp noir thriller, which may have also made a decent film, but I'm glad the picture is ultimately about intense love and intense grief. Summer of 85' is a tender story that tugs at one's heartstrings and gives us a wonderful piece of lgbttq art.


The cinematography, by Hichame Alaouie, is gorgeous. The mise en scene evoke the 80's and the choice of pastel colors remind me of french films before that period, like Jacques Demy's Young Girls of Rocheforte. The score is wonderful; albeit the soul of the picture is its use of Rod Stewart's Sailing which acts very much like Cat Stevens' music did in Harold and Maude, emphasizing a change in the main character.


Though several viewers have said the script can be frustrating and border on formulaic (too similar to Call Me By Your Name) I feel this is a great picture and spoke very deeply to me. Summer of 85 seems like a simple love story, but a great discussion about youth & grief is to be had within this picture. Breathtaking to say the least.