A lawyer who specializes in representing rape victims, Anne (Léa Drucker) maintains a typically bourgeois existence with her wealthy businessman husband and their two daughters. However, when her surly, 17-year-old stepson Théo (Samuel Kircher) moves in with the family, he and Anne begin a taboo romance that threatens to upset the balance of her life. Having betrayed both her family and her principles, Anne finds herself in a rare position of weakness in direct contradiction to her morals.
Last Summer is Catherine Breillat’s triumphant return to the festival circuit after a decade-long absence—and she does not disappoint. Although the film is nominally a remake of the 2019 Danish drama Queen of Hearts, the French provocateur asserts her directorial personality from frame one. Never one to shy away from discomfiting material, Breillat explores every facet of the thorny power dynamics between Anne and Théo, denying the viewer any clean lines of identification. In Last Summer, as in the rest of Breillat’s boundary-pushing oeuvre, the real transgression lies in the filmmaker’s refusal to look away.
Breillat’s sharp writing and even sharper camera make for a cinematic challenge, a cinematic gem.
Autostraddle
Léa Drucker, Samuel Kircher, Olivier Rabourdin, Clotilde Courau, Angela Chen, Serena Hu
France
2023
Special Presentations
In French with English subtitles
Incest
Book Tickets
Indigenous & Community Access
Indigenous Access Tickets Community Access Tickets Ticket Donation Requests
Credits
Executive Producer
René Ezra, Caroline Blanco, Clifford Werber
Producer
Saïd Ben Saïd
Screenwriter
Catherine Breillat, Pascal Bonitzer
Cinematography
Jeanne Lapoirie
Editor
François Quiqueré Lma
Production Design
Sébastien Danos
Director
Catherine Breillat
Dubbed “the bad girl intellectual of French cinema” by Amy Taubin of the Village Voice, writer-director Catherine Breillat seemingly has courted controversy since her long and prolific career began. While still in her teens she published her first novel, the erotic L’Homme facile, which was not sold to anyone in France under 18 years of age. Breillat’s film acting debut was in 1973’s groundbreaking Last Tango in Paris. Her own feature directorial debut, based on one of her novels, Une Vraie jeune fille, was originally shot in 1975 but through a combination of the bankruptcy of her producers and its shocking content that caused it to be banned, the film did not receive a release for 25 years.
Filmography: A Real Young Girl (1976); 36 Fillette (1988); Romance (1999); Fat Girl (2001); The Last Mistress (2007)
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
A Simple Machine
Cutting costs, swapping four wheels for two, Nick is downsizing to pay off his student debt. It's a path which leads to savings he had not anticipated, even if his girlfriend thinks he's losing it (and she may be right). A lean, low budget gem.
Cookie Queens
A documentary about the annual Girl Scouts' cookie sale is probably not high on your list of must-sees, but don't be too sure — this movie is a delight, a rare celebration of girlhood, supportive family relations, and the art of salesmanship.
Princess Mononoke
A mystical fight between humans and the Animal Gods of the forest. Ashitaka, the last prince of a dying race, struggles to find a way for both sides to co-exist. But the fighting only becomes more and more bloody and all hope seems to be lost…