Jan 5, 2021
Last Summer (dir. Mark Thiedeman, 2013) | cinematography by David Goodman
seen from Russia
seen from T1
seen from Malaysia
seen from China
seen from Czechia
seen from South Korea
seen from Malaysia
seen from Malaysia
seen from Zimbabwe
seen from France
seen from United States
seen from France
seen from Malaysia
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Malaysia
seen from Malaysia
seen from Türkiye
seen from Hungary
seen from Malaysia
Last Summer (dir. Mark Thiedeman, 2013) | cinematography by David Goodman
“He asked people why they didn’t like him, and why he didn’t fit in. He wanted to.”
Last Summer (USA, 2013)
Last Summer (2013)
The film starts with a four-minute introduction of classical music over shots of walls, wood, and other objects. Off the bat, you know what kind of film this is going to be. Artsy, might even be slow. I personally enjoy these films, but I know many don’t. If you get bored easily, don’t watch it. If you want a nice, fluffy, somewhat emotional young romance this is for you. Spoilers ahead!
One of my favorite scenes takes place at the beginning of the film when Luke (Samuel Pettit) and his teacher (Deb Lewis) are having a conversation. It’s so real and shows how much teachers care for their students and make time to listen to them when they need to and provide actual real advice. Of course, not all teachers are like this, but I sure wish they were.
Something that shocked me about the story was that everyone was okay with Luke and Jonah (Sean Rose) being boyfriends. Of course, this is an ideal that we as a society should be striving for. It shocked me because they are in the South of the United States and it’s pretty hard to find a small town that isn't negatively prejudiced against people of the LGBT+ community. I thought it was nice though, a film about two boys being in love without the subplot of the conflict of someone being homophobic and causing a problem.
There are really good artsy shots and the overall cinematography is absolutely beautiful. Throughout the film, the background noises are mostly piano and a lot of bird chirps. No really, there are so many bird chirps. I liked it. Sometimes it did go over some of the narration which then became a little difficult to hear because of the percentage of volume distribution, but overall it was nice.
This film includes a lot of narration and monologue. The interesting thing though is that we get this from both the main characters, Luke and Jonah, not just one fo them. They are very good monologues and there are some great quotes in there that moved me.
I’ll be honest, I liked the movie but just for a one time watch. I highly doubt I’ll ever see it again, but I recommend giving it a watch if you’re into these sorts of films.
TV-14, 1h 13m, United States Drama/Romance Director/Writer: Mark Thiedeman
Film Thoughts II
film #145/? (of 2019)
Here’s the trailer to my friend Mark’s beautiful new movie, which he described to me as “A gay’d up version of Dostoyevski’s short story, but set in Little Rock.” Also, I don’t mean to brag, but if you hear any faint trumpet sounds in the song playing in the trailer, that’s me.
Last Summer
A languid yet beautiful film.
Last Summer