''One Deadly Summer'' () is a 1983 French

drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

film directed by Jean Becker from a screenplay by

Sébastien Japrisot Sébastien Japrisot (; 4 July 1931 – 4 March 2003) was a French author, screenwriter and film director. His pseudonym was an anagram of Jean-Baptiste Rossi, his real name. Renowned for subverting the rules of the crime genre, Japrisot broke do ...

, based on Japrisot's 1977 novel of the same name.

Isabelle Adjani Isabelle Yasmine Adjani (born 27 June 1955) is a French actress and singer of Algerian and German descent. She has received various accolades, including five César Awards and a Lumière Award, along with nominations for two Academy Awards. ...

won a

César Award for Best Actress Cesar or César may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''César'' (film), a 1936 French romantic drama * ''César'' (play), a play by Marcel Pagnolt Places * Cesar, Portugal * Cesar Department, Colombia * Cesar River, in Colombia * Cesa ...

for her performance in this film. The film was successful in France, gaining 5,137,040 admissions and becoming the second highest-grossing film of the year.

Plot

Eliane ("Elle"), a beautiful young woman (Isabelle Adjani) settles into a small town in the south of France with her introverted mother (Maria Machado) and physically handicapped father, and soon becomes the subject of wild speculation because of her aloofness and at the same time, her obvious sexuality. The young woman is actually caught up in the desire to avenge the long-ago rape of her mother by three men who had arrived at her isolated house in a van which contained an old piano which they were delivering. A shy car mechanic (Alain Souchon) becomes enamored of her, and the woman suddenly sees him in a different light when she learns that his father, now dead, was an Italian immigrant who had owned and tried unsuccessfully to pawn the piano. Intent on taking action against the mechanic's family to right the wrong suffered by her mother, the daughter begins to lose her grip on sanity when she finds out that the men she suspects of the rape are actually innocent. In fact, her father had long ago exacted his own vengeance on the real culprits. This knowledge pushes her over the edge, and she has to be institutionalized. Meanwhile, the young mechanic misunderstands what happened and that leads to tragedy; he tracks down and kills the innocent men Elle had suspected of raping her mother, believing them to be responsible for Elle's current condition.

Cast

as Eliane Wieck, known as "Elle"; she is known by her German mother's maiden name rather than by the surname of her father (Gabriel Devigne), because she was born as the result of her mother being

gang rape In scholarly literature and criminology, gang rape, also called serial gang rape, party rape, group rape, or multiple perpetrator rape,Ullman, S. E. (2013). 11 Multiple perpetrator rape victimization. Handbook on the Study of Multiple Perpetrato ...

d. However, Gabriel subsequently comes to accept Eliane and brings her up as his child. * Alain Souchon as Fiorimonto "Florimond" Montecciari, known as "Pin-Pon"; he is a volunteer firefighter and "pin pon" is an onomatopoeiac version of a firetruck siren. *

Suzanne Flon Suzanne Flon (28 January 1918 – 15 June 2005) was a French people, French stage, film, and television actress. She won the Volpi Cup for Best Actress for her performance in the 1961 film ''Tu ne tueras point, Thou Shalt Not Kill''. Flon also re ...

as Nine, known as "Cognata" * Jenny Clève as Madame Montecciari, the mother of "Pin Pon" * Maria Machado as Paula Wieck Devigne, the mother of Elle * Evelyne Didi as Calamité * Jean Gaven as Leballech, the boss of the sawmill * François Cluzet as Mickey * Manuel Gélin as Boubou * Roger Carel as Henri, known as "Henri IV" * Michel Galabru as Gabriel Devigne, the father of Elle * Martin Lamotte as Georges Massigne * Marie-Pierre Casey as Mademoiselle Tussaud, the home nurse * Cécile Vassort as Josette * Édith Scob as La doctoresse * Maïwenn Le Besco as 'Elle' as a child

Production

The film was shot in the villages around Gordes: Saint Saturnin d'Apt, Murs, and Villars.

Soundtrack

The original music was written by

Georges Delerue Georges Delerue (12 March 1925 – 20 March 1992) was a French composer who composed over 350 scores for cinema and television. Delerue won numerous important film music awards, including an Academy Award for '' A Little Romance'' (1980), three C� ...

Yves Montand Ivo Livi (; 13 October 1921 – 9 November 1991), better known as Yves Montand (), was an Italian-born French actor and singer. He is said to be one of France's greatest 20th-century artists. Early life Montand was born Ivo Livi in Stignano, a ...

sings his "''Trois petites notes de musique''", a song that was originally performed by Cora Vaucaire in '' The Long Absence''.

Reception

The film was successful in France, gaining 5,137,040 admissions and becoming the second highest-grossing film of the year. It received four

César Awards The César Award is the national film award of France. It is delivered in the ' ceremony and was first awarded in 1976. The nominations are selected by the members of twelve categories of filmmaking professionals and supported by the French Min ...

. The film received mixed reviews from English-speaking critics. '' Variety'' said that "often questionable in matters of credibility and wobbly in its dramatic conception, pic is nonetheless fairly engrossing, thanks to Isabelle Adjani, astonishing in the central role." ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' chief film critic

Vincent Canby Vincent Canby (July 27, 1924 – October 15, 2000) was an American film and theatre critic who was the chief film critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1969 until the early 1990s, then its chief theatre critic from 1994 until his death in 2000. ...

remarked that Adjani "looks smashing in a series of flimsy little dresses" but "the plot... is less complicated than devious." '' Time Out'' said the film was "directed with verve", and though it "rarely departs from the commercial mainstream, but within those conventions it operates with assurance, subtlety and plenty of surprises."

Awards

César Awards, France, 1984

;Winner *César Best Actress –

*Best Editing – Jacques Witta *Best Supporting Actress –

* Best Adaptation –

;Nominated *César Best Actor – Alain Souchon *Best Director – Jean Becker *Best Film – Jean Becker *Best Music Written for a Film –

*Best Supporting Actor – François Cluzet

References

External links

* {{Jean Becker (director) 1983 films 1983 drama films 1980s erotic drama films 1980s French films 1980s French-language films Films based on crime novels Films based on French novels Films based on works by Sébastien Japrisot Films with screenplays by Sébastien Japrisot Films directed by Jean Becker Films featuring a Best Actress César Award–winning performance Films featuring a Best Supporting Actress César Award–winning performance Films scored by Georges Delerue Films set in the 1970s French erotic drama films French rape and revenge films TF1 Films Production films BayView Entertainment films