The Beautiful Summer
Synopsis
Turin, 1938. Young Ginia has just left the countryside with her brother in search of a new life in the city. Though Turin lies in the shadow of a rising fascistic government and her brother yearns to return home, Ginia is more optimistic about the future. In a short time, she excels in her works as a seamstress at an atelier, gaining new clients with her designs and impressing her otherwise irascible employer. Restless and seeking adventure, Ginia soon finds it in a beautiful, enigmatic young woman named Amelia. Though similar in age, her new friend’s sensuality and confidence among the bohemian artists she socializes with embolden Ginia to begins modeling the for the male painters in her circle. A whirlwind affair ensues, and the young seamstress finds herself swept up in this new and unfamiliar world, all the while never escaping Amelia’s spell. The young women grow closer, and Ginia makes an emotional journey towards self-discovery over the course of one beautiful, sun-dappled summer. Featuring tender performances by Yile Yara Vianello and Deva Cassel, Laura Luchetti’s latest coming-of-age drama showcases “the intertwined complexities of first love and first sexual experiences, highlighting the inevitable messiness and poignancy of adolescence,” (Screen Anarchy).
