What do you dream of when you’re 16-years-old and in a seaside resort in Normandy in the 1980s? A best friend? A lifelong teen pact? Scooting off on adventures on a boat or a motorbike? Living life at breakneck speed? No. You dream of death. Because you can’t get a bigger kick than dying. And that’s why you save it till the very end. The summer holidays are just beginning, and this story recounts how Alexis grew into himself.
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Credits: TheMovieDb.
Film Cast:
- Alexis Robin: Félix Lefebvre
- David Gorman: Benjamin Voisin
- Kate: Philippine Velge
- Madame Gorman: Valeria Bruni‑Tedeschi
- Mr. Lefèvre: Melvil Poupaud
- Madame Robin: Isabelle Nanty
- Mr. Robin: Laurent Fernandez
- The Educator: Aurore Broutin
- Bernard: Bruno Lochet
- Luc: Yoann Zimmer
- Chris: Antoine Simony
- The Judge: Patrick Zimmermann
- Gorman’s Brother: Samuel Brafman-Moutier
- The Rabbi: Benjamin Allouche
Film Crew:
- Director: François Ozon
- Sound: Brigitte Taillandier
- Sound: Jean-Paul Hurier
- Costume Design: Pascaline Chavanne
- Script Supervisor: Lydia Bigard
- Editor: Laure Gardette
- Production Design: Benoît Barouh
- Producer: Eric Altmayer
- Producer: Nicolas Altmayer
- Director of Photography: Hichame Alaouié
- Original Music Composer: Jean-Benoît Dunckel
- Casting: Elodie Demey
- Choreographer: Virginie Caussin
- Set Decoration: Frédéric Delrue
- Steadicam Operator: Jan Rubens
- Dialogue Editor: Caroline Reynaud
- Key Makeup Artist: Nathalie Tabareau
- Boom Operator: Dominique Eyraud
- Colorist: Richard Deusy
- Storyboard Artist: Luc Desportes
- Production Manager: Aude Cathelin
- Foley Artist: Nicolas Fioraso
- Key Grip: Antonin Gendre
- ADR Mixer: Gildas Mercier
- Sound: Julien Roig
- Casting: Anaïs Duran
- Still Photographer: Jean-Claude Moireau
- Key Hair Stylist: Franck-Pascal Alquinet
- Grip: Jan Gagnaire
- Stunt Coordinator: Pascal Guégan
- Stunt Double: Damien Buffard
- Stunt Double: Alexandre Cauderlier
- First Assistant Director: Elodie Gay
- Second Assistant Director: Cristina Freitas
- First Assistant “B” Camera: François Chevreau
- ADR Supervisor: Catherine Taïeb
- First Assistant Editor: Clément Selitzki
- Novel: Aidan Chambers
- Foley Mixer: Hubert Teissedre
- Third Assistant Director: Nicolas Tonnerre
- Choreographer: Virginie Toc
- First Assistant Camera: Thomas Caselli
- Second Assistant Camera: Antoine Charveriat
- Third Assistant Camera: Lucile Cherdo
- Gaffer: Jérôme Di Cola
- Grip: Pierre Fontbonne
- Grip: Benjamin Vandamme
- Grip: Brendan Durand
- Stunts: Quentin Mesguich
- Stunts: Chad Guégan
- Stunts: Robin Lallart
- Stunts: Joris Martinez
- Stunts: Marco Luraschi
- Stunts: Jonathan Bernard
Movie Reviews:
- SWITCH.: Francois Ozon’s ‘Summer of 85’ is a bittersweet film, one that ultimately encourages its audience to embrace the joy and the heartache of first love, along with the ephemerality of having a life-changing presence in your life.
– Jake WattRead Jake’s full article…
https://www.maketheswitch.com.au/article/review-summer-of-85-a-refreshingly-nuanced-coming-of-age-story - CinemaSerf: Félix Lefebvre (who reminded me, here, of a young Charlie Hunnam in “Queer as Folk” (1999)) is sixteen year old “Alex” who takes his friend’s dinghy out for a sail and gets caught in a thunderstorm that capsizes his boat. Luckily for him, Benjamin Voisin (“David”) is nearby and tows him ashore and into his mother’s recuperative bathtub! The next six weeks are now depicted in a cleverly interwoven mix of current and recent storylines as we realise that a tragedy has occurred and that the two young men had something of a relationship during the intervening period. On the face of it – it’s just a gay coming of age drama, but Levebvre has an intensity and innocence about him. His performance as the young man who falls so completely and utterly in love is heart-rending, sincere and stylishly captured by the photography – and must remind all of us of that first, inexplicable, “love” that we may well still recall to this day. To be fair, it is easy to see why he fell for the charismatic, exciting “David” – who offers him profound changes to his life, and to the rather linear options that most of us faced at 16 – job or school – but the story is more nuanced than that and though it is certainly not without some fairly substantial holes and inconsistencies, it sort of works. The Cure’s “In Between Days” and an oddly effective “Sailing” from Rod Stewart provide a remarkably potent soundtrack that resonates not just the moment, but the sentiment too. Not, maybe, Ozon’s finest work but I suspect we may see more roles from his young star in the future.