(327) THE DEAD OF SUMMER (1971) rare thriller with Jean Seberg
4850DVD
original Italian title ONDATA DI CALORE
[Heat Wave]
directed by: Nelo Risi
starring: Jean Seberg · Luigi Pistilli · Lilia Nguyen · Gianni Belfiore
· Paolo Modugno
Sunday
morning. Joyce Grasse, an American living in Morocco, wakes up in a cocktail
dress. A sandstorm is raging outside the house. Joyce does not know exactly
whether she is awake or dreaming. Her Vietnamese housekeeper helps her
get dressed. Joyce then drives to the beach. She begins to wonder if she
may have killed her husband. And Joyce starts to think she might have
hid his body in the laundry basket. But...
This
thriller - an ode to the cinema of Michelangelo Antonioni - is directed
by Nelo Risi, the younger brother of Italian filmmaker Dino Risi. It is
an uncompromising mixture of Giallo and nouvelle vague, starring
displaced American actress Jean Seberg, a couple years before her CORRUPTION
OF CHRIS MILLER. In reality, despite a robust early career (which
includes such hits as Bonjour Tristesse, Lilith,
Paint Your Wagon and of course Jean-Luc Godard's Breathless),
Ms Seberg had difficulty finding work in Hollywood after an ugly disagreement
with ex-lover Clint Eastwood. She went to Italy for this film in 1971
and decided to stay. Her deteriorating mental state, complicated by drug
abuse and constant worldwide harassment from the FBI [as a result of her
involvement with the Black Panther movement] caused a spiral that ended
with an apparent suicide. Jean Seberg died under mysterious circumstances
in Paris from a barbiturate overdose, August 1979, at age 40.
An
Italian film with optional ON/OFF English subtitles; Uncut (89
minutes),
in DVD format, encoded for ALL REGION, playable on any American DVD machine.
Extras include selected theatrical trailers.
Nudity/Strong
Sexual Situations/Violence
For Mature Audiences
