Laura, Shadows of a Summer / Laura, les ombres de l'été (1979)
Laura, Shadows of a Summer (1979)
DVDRip | MKV | 662 x 560 | x264 @ 1810 Kbps | 86 min | 1,29 Gb
Audio: French AC3 2.0 @ 192 Kbps | Subs: English, German, Spanish, Italian, Hungarian
Genre: Drama, Romance
DVDRip | MKV | 662 x 560 | x264 @ 1810 Kbps | 86 min | 1,29 Gb
Audio: French AC3 2.0 @ 192 Kbps | Subs: English, German, Spanish, Italian, Hungarian
Genre: Drama, Romance
Sculptor Paul meets a former great love again after a long time – but is much more impressed by her 15 years old daughter Laura, who looks now like her mother when Paul was in love with her. Laura likes him very much too, but her jealous mother prevents any further contact. She allows him to make a sculpture of Laura, but only from photos.
Artists are inspired by myths, and this picture-poem starts with an artist having a visionary view of the birth of Venus. To director David Hamilton this is a look at a woman before life leaves its many marks on her. Both Hamilton and the artist wants to freeze this moment of Adam-and-Eve-innocence, and both do it with sensual devotion. The innocence gets lost on the way, as we all know it will be - but in Hamiltons dream, as well as in his life as photographer, the sensuality not only remains, but grows stronger. Maud Adams shows as mother a strong believe in this, watching her daughter growing up. As the daughter, Laura, sees Dawn Dunlap.
Other comments shows too much interest for the amateurish acting in this picture-poem. As a mirror reflecting a world where we think too much and too little at the same time. We think too much with our senses turned off, and too little with our senses turned on. Brigitte Bardot was once asked by a journalist: "What do you think about free love?" Brigitte Bardot answered: "I don't think when I make love". If Hamilton was asked about his movie-theory for "Laura", he would probably answer: "I don't make movies, I'm just dreaming". The camera catch the dream and makes it possible to share it - and I'm very grateful that it has been possible for me to share Hamilton's dream.
David Hamilton is a child of a time - the 70's - where everybody was searching deep and wide, and he became famous in that time. Men like to see his pictures of girls, but back then it was the mothers who asked him to photograph their daughters. The style in Hamilton's picture-poems was not unusual for European movies in the 70's. A danish movie was inspired by Robert Frost: "The woods are lovely dark and deep / but I have promises to keep / and miles to go before I sleep." Perhaps the meaning in that poem is the reason why Hamilton wants to share his dreams.
(click to enlarge)
Laura, Shadows of a Summer / Laura, les ombres de l'été (1979)
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