Film Friday: Summer of Sangaile
It’s hard to revolutionize a lesbian teen romance movie. Within the past few years, queer love stories are spreading through the indie genre like wildfire, and making a movie that hasn’t already been done is next to impossible. Director Alanté Kavaïté’s, who tackled a teen lesbian drama with Summer of Sangaile, effort was apparent but the film fell short.
The film opens with a beautiful sequence of Sangaile (Julija Steponaityte) watching stunt flyers dip and twist on a summer day when she meets Auste (Aiste Driziute). Auste is raffling for a free ride in the aeronautical show, and rigs it to get Sangaile on the plane, which is one of the best pick up lines of all time. Sangaile, who aspires to be a pilot, returns the favor by running away.
Auste doesn’t give up, and invites the protagonist out with her friends. Over time the teenagers bond becomes more and more sexual, but in a pure way. There aren’t any aggressive scissor scenes, or unnecessary nudity. Kavaïté uses simplicity and taste to show a realistic sex scene. I mean realistic in the sense of body movements and intimacy, but doing it in a filed of tall grass is a luxury only a few, very fortunate people get to experience in their lifetime.
It’s clear through the director’s decisions that she is trying to make Sangaile the prototypical-depressed lesbian, through shots of her cutting and keeping her living situation completely desolate. These attributes add to her “less than impressed” attitude throughout the film. She’s not an unlikable character, but she’s not original. We’ve seen plenty of beautiful women suffering from depression and being pulled out by a love interest. Where is the film about a lesbian who finds her own path her own way?
The film, however, is beautifully shot. Kavaïté alongside cinematographer Dominique Colin brought forth amazing images that carried the majority of the film. With a mixture of scenic beauty and the director’s eye for subtle beauty, such as close up of cheek hairs moving or the little abrasions on a Sangraile’s nipple. We even get an unique take on Sangaile’s vertigo through helicopter shots. The movie could have easily transformed into a lesbian Cloverfield, which wouldn’t be a bad film. It surely would have a better storyline.
The images still linger in the mind, days after watching the film. They are truly a work of beauty. But beauty doesn’t make a film great, or even good. The story line makes a film, and Summer of Sangaile is lacking substance.
