Product Description

An American spinster's dream of romance finally becomes a bittersweet reality when she meets a handsome-but married-Italian man while vacationing in Venice. Katharine Hepburn's sensitive portrayal of the lonely heroine and Jack Hildyard's glorious Technicolor® photography make Summertime an endearing and visually enchanting film.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #8790 in DVD
• Released on: 1998-09-09
• Rating: Unrated
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 100 minutes

Amazon.com essential video
There was a time before Lawrence of Arabia and Doctor Zhivago when David Lean made smaller, more effortlessly picturesque movies, and this splendid Venetian travelogue and love story is one of them--the last, actually, before the epic onslaught started with the Oscar-winning The Bridge on the River Kwai in 1957. "Sometimes I think a schedule in Venice is just, well, all wrong," observes a bewitched tourist to Katharine Hepburn's vacationing spinster near the beginning of Summertime, which is based on Arthur Laurents's play The Time of the Cuckoo. Before the end, however, Jane will have thrown her idealized romantic notions into the canals and embarked on a passionate affair with a married art dealer (Rossano Brazzi). More blissful than Lean's adulterous fable Brief Encounter 10 years prior, but not entirely guilt- or pain-free, this deceptively simple romance is an often-fascinating glimpse at a time when sexual revolution for Americans--and especially middle-aged women--was confined to fanciful European trysts. Plus, with all the architecture, art, Italian conversation, music, and fine cuisine around you (all richly photographed on location by Jack Hildyard), who's to pish-posh a furtive all-nighter between one repressive country and a free-loving one? The two leads are graceful and even musical in their movements and line deliveries. Hepburn's initial outrage at the idea that illicit love is part of her impossibly beautiful surroundings may at first seem outdated, but the Academy Award-winning actress is too good not to suggest as well the poignant, deep fear her character has of opening up emotionally to anybody. Ultimately, Summertime is the movie equivalent of a deep, satisfying sigh. --Robert Abele

Customer Reviews

The Ultimate Venice Tour
Even though the movie is nearly sixty years old very little in Venice has changed. Anyone planning a trip to Venice will benefit from seeing this movie since it perfectly captures the atmosphere they can experience for themselves. You can still visit the location where Hepburn falls in to the canal and the shop that was temporarilly turned into Rossano Brazzi's antique shop. The storyline does not overwhelm the visual experience of the city.

Summertime, but not all the time
I bought this because of Hepburn and Venice and on those two counts I was not disappointed. The views of the city are outstanding and Ms. Hepburn's remarkable independence shines through. However, the story is stilted by the conventions of the era and David Lean's direction was so uneven it made Hepburn's character look kooky. Finally, I was uncomfortable with the way the movie tells the story of a woman longing for romance in (possibly) the most romantic city on earth, how she stumbles onto it, how she doesn't seem to really enjoy what she's found, then leaves the city broken hearted...just kind of blah.

I've Got That Sinking Feeling...
Venice sure is pretty. What an opportunity for David Lean to explore color movie making just a couple of years before he began creating his streak of brilliant films (Bridge On the River Kwai, Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago). And for the film crew, a trip to Venice, Italy! Nice work, if you can get it. And now onto the story. What did Hepburn play? A retired office worker from Akron, Ohio? Oh, that's right. And the Italian lover? You know, Ben Stiller could have done something in that role (and with the script), except he wasn't born yet. One star for Venice. I'll give this flick a second star. I can't bear the thought of putting a Lean and Hepburn effort into the same cesspool as my one-star films. If you want to see Hepburn do something sparkling in this time period, check out DESK SET, with Spencer Tracy. Computers! And down-sizing in 1957! Now, that's a story.