Summer Lovers – 1982
Posted by Scott on 07 Nov 2008 at 01:08 am | Tagged as: Overlooked Films
Recognize the name Randal Kleiser? He’s the guy who directed Grease and The Blue Lagoon. Two well-known movies from 1978 and 1980 respectively, responsible for introducing audiences to John Travolta and Brooke Shields. Grease is widely considered the best modern-day musical, while The Blue Lagoon has been called one of the more ridiculous shmaltz-fests ever put to celluloid. Although, the latter does feature a young Shields gallivanting naked on a beach. Kleiser’s next film would be Summer Lovers, a not-so-ordinary romance set in the picturesque Greek Islands.
Peter Gallagher and Daryl Hannah play Michael and Cathy, a post-graduate couple summer vacationing in Greece. Settling in at a white-stone villa overlooking the Mediterranean, the young lovers soak-up the sun and swim the warm blue seas. Michael, a structured rich-boy, adopts the carefree attitude of the locals and looks to spread his wings. Cathy, a sheltered nice girl, spends her days photographing exotic locales. Scores of beautiful men and women flood the nude beaches which has a profound effect on both Michael and Cathy. Michael’s wandering eye soon catches the gaze of a sexy French archaeologist named Lina. A rendezvous in a remote grotto leads to an affair, compromising Michael’s relationship with Cathy.
A guilty Michael tells Cathy about Lina, confessing his desire to grow sexually. Cathy is less than thrilled, but her attempts at retribution with a local man fall short. Despite her anger she can’t go through with it. Instead, Cathy elects to confront Lina face-to-face. Lina explains she isn’t seeking commitment and manages to start a friendship with Cathy. Two soon turns into three as Michael, Cathy and Lina become attached at the hips. They eat, dance, sunbathe, swim and eventually sleep together. An alternative relationship forms once Lina moves into the villa. The trio put aside petty jealousies and adopt a loving communal lifestyle. As summer wanes Lina becomes distant, aware that Michael and Cathy will soon be leaving. Will their happiness endure or will life’s barriers bring it to an end?
Writer/Director Kleiser introduces some intriguing themes throughout the story. The fun loving, fearless attitude of a pre-AIDS world is refreshing to see, but in hindsight it’s somewhat troubling considering what would surface a few years later. The idea of engaging in sex with multiple partners without dangerous consequences was commonplace back in 1982. Unknowingly, Kleiser documented one of the last periods of free love in all its glory. The characters’ menage-a-trois arrangement is certainly radical for the time. Pornography entered the mainstream in the mid to late 70s and pulled back a curtain, but the notion of three people living a bacchanalian existence had to be shocking to audiences. Credit Kleiser for painting their relationship as cheerful and innocent, rather than dirty or profane. The film would gross close to $5 million, which for an R-rated title in 1982 isn’t bad, so people weren’t sacred off by its explicit ideas and imagery.
Summer Lovers is one of those films you catch late-night and can’t switch off. I’ll be honest, not to mention superficial, the sight of Daryl Hannah, Valerie Quennessen (Lina) and countless other beauties nude is the main reason I kept watching. That aside, the film is highly entertaining and groundbreaking. Hannah and Gallagher seem to relish their roles and why shouldn’t they? Filming in the Greek isles surrounded by naked bodies can’t be all that bad. The real find here though is Quennessen, who plays the sensuous Lina. Her eyes convey a multitude of emotions. Sadly, the actress was killed in an auto accident in 1989, cutting short a promising life and career. Randal Kleiser is far from a brilliant director but he deserves praise for crafting a gorgeous-looking, uninhibited film that took me by surprise. Like anyone, I dig a good surprise.
The trailer for Summer Lovers:
