One Deadly Summer

{{About|the film|the Sébastien Japrisot novel from which the film was adapted|One Deadly Summer (novel)}}

{{Infobox film

| name = One Deadly Summer

| image = Ete_meurtrier.jpg

| caption = Theatrical release poster

| native_name = {{Infobox name module|fr|L'Été meurtrier}}

| director = Jean Becker

| screenplay = Sébastien Japrisot

| based_on = {{based on|One Deadly Summer|Sébastien Japrisot}}

| producer = Christine Beyout

| starring = {{Plainlist|

}}

| cinematography = Étienne Becker

| editing = Jacques Witta

| music = Georges Delerue

| studio = {{Plainlist|

Société Nouvelle de Cinématographie
CAPAC
TF1 Films Production

}}

| distributor = Société Nouvelle de Cinématographie

| released = {{Film date|df=yes|1983|5|10|Cannes|1983|5|11|France}}

| runtime = 130 minutes

| country = France

| language = French

}}

One Deadly Summer ({{langx|fr|L'Été meurtrier}}) is a 1983 French drama film directed by Jean Becker from a screenplay by Sébastien Japrisot, based on Japrisot's 1977 novel of the same name. Isabelle Adjani won a César Award for Best Actress 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.{{Cite web|url=http://www.jpbox-office.com/fichfilm.php?id=6815|title=L'Ete meurtrier (1983)|website=JP Box-Office|language=fr|access-date=2019-09-05}}

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

Isabelle Adjani 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 raped. 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 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.{{Cite web|url=http://fresques.ina.fr/reperes-mediterraneens/fiche-media/Repmed00681/docteur-japrisot-et-mister-rossi.html|title=Docteur Japrisot et Mister Rossi - Ina.fr|website=Repères méditerranéens|access-date=2019-09-07}}

Soundtrack

The original music was written by Georges Delerue.{{cite book|last=Blanchard|first=Gérard|date=1984|title=Images de la musique de cinéma|series=Collection Médiathèque|publisher=Edilig|page=187|isbn=978-2-85601-059-4|oclc=12082645}} Yves Montand sings his "Trois petites notes de musique",{{cite magazine|last=Lalanne|first=Jean-Marc|date=21 November 2006|title=Maïwenn : " Je ne crois pas être la réalisatrice d'un seul film "|url=https://www.lesinrocks.com/cinema/maiwenn-je-ne-crois-pas-etre-la-realisatrice-dun-seul-film-72957-21-11-2006/|language=fr|magazine=Les Inrockuptibles|access-date=12 December 2022}} a song that was originally performed by Cora Vaucaire in The Long Absence.{{cite news|date=17 September 2011|title=Décès de la chanteuse Cora Vaucaire|url=https://www.liberation.fr/musique/2011/09/17/deces-de-la-chanteuse-cora-vaucaire_761915/|newspaper=Libération|language=fr|agency=AFP|access-date=12 December 2022}}

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 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."{{Cite web|url=https://variety.com/1982/film/reviews/one-deadly-summer-1200425470/|title=One Deadly Summer|date=1983-01-01|website=Variety|access-date=2019-09-05}} The New York Times chief film critic Vincent Canby remarked that Adjani "looks smashing in a series of flimsy little dresses" but "the plot... is less complicated than devious."{{cite news|last=Canby|first=Vincent|author-link=Vincent Canby|date=20 July 1984|title='Deadly Summer'|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/07/20/movies/deadly-summer.html|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=5 September 2019}} 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."{{Cite web|url=https://www.timeout.com/london/film/one-deadly-summer|title=One Deadly Summer 1983 Film review|website=Time Out London|access-date=2019-09-05}}