1. IN NORMANDY, WITH ÉRIC ROHMER’S CONTE D’ÉTÉ (1996)
If there’s a Rohmer for every season, summer is certainly his favourite. For the penultimate of his “Tales of the Four Seasons”, the director sets off for Dinard and Saint-Malo. Beach time, walks in the bocage, and difficult but thrilling love affairs are all on the agenda.
2. IN NEW ENGLAND WITH WES ANDERSON’S MOONRISE KINGDOM (2012)
“C’est le temps de l’amour, le temps des copains et de l’aventure,” sings François Hardy in Suzy’s record player. Filmed like a postcard of sixties seaside resorts in WASP America, “Moonrise Kingdom” makes you want to wear yellow bandanas, pull your socks up to your knees and start a literary correspondence. A great vacation programme.
3. SOFIA COPPOLA’S SOMEWHERE (2010) AT THE CHATEAU MARMONT HOTEL IN LOS ANGELES
A father, a legendary author with a sulphurous reputation, spends the summer with his 11-year-old daughter at the legendary Château Marmont Hotel in Los Angeles. The programme includes sunbathing by the pool, long hours of boredom and melancholy Strokes songs on the headphones. A slow, tender summer.
4. IN BROOKLYN WITH SPIKE LEE’S DO THE RIGHT THING (1989)
It’s the hottest day of the year in New York. Just another day for Mookie, an African-American delivery boy at Sal’s Famous Pizzeria. We cool off as best we can at the fire hydrants flooding the sidewalks, but the unbearable heat ends up rekindling community tensions. What do you do when you can’t afford a vacation?
Pierre Charpilloz