SERIOUSLY. This is what the crap Hollywood still puts out?
... View MoreExcellent, a Must See
... View MoreBad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay
... View MoreAll that we are seeing on the screen is happening with real people, real action sequences in the background, forcing the eye to watch as if we were there.
... View MoreI'm not going to bother with introducing David Hamilton and explaining the controversial nature of his work, if you don't know about him a wikipedia search should . I do think some of his photography is rather good, and artful enough that it doesn't feel sleazy at all, and remember enjoying both "Tendres cousines" (which has found its way into modern pop culture due to being referenced several times by "Arrested Development") and "Premiers désirs" (starring a young Emmanuelle Beart), although I haven't seen either film in a while and don't remember them, except for the former being somewhat alarmingly close to justifying the accusations against Hamilton for being a 'child pornographer'. "Un été à Saint-Tropez" is inconceivably awful and laughable as a film, however. I'd rather sit through the somewhat lame yuk-yuk lines in "Tendres cousines" than this thing ever again. Awful use of slow-motion, including one five-minute long pillow-fight scene, no dialogue, no plot, this one truly does expose Hamilton as someone who gets off on seeing nude teenage girls and doesn't particularly care about anything else. Still, it's not all that creepy, as most of these girls appear to be between 16-18, maybe a little older even, and a couple of them really are gorgeous. As soft porn the movie will probably work for desperate ephebophiles, but it's too lunk-headed and awfully-made to work as a film, and Hamilton's soft-focus photography is occasionally nice to look at, but wasted on a pointless piece of crap.
... View MoreThis film shows that, even with the best of backdrops, the most romantic scenery and the most beautiful girls, it is perfectly possible to make an extremely boring film. I like pretty girls as much as anybody, but this film has turned me completely off girls. In fact, I think I might try that gay thing now. For several hours after watching this absolute dog of a movie, I went limp! It just was that bad. I really imagine that even for pedophiles this is a torture to watch.I thought this guy was supposed to be a photographer? DOESN'T HE KNOW HOW TO DEAL WITH LIGHT? In the first part of the film, (which is supposed to introduce the characters) all the shots of the girls faces are in the dark or half shade. Now, I get what he was trying to do here, harsh direct light is not as beautiful as mysterious shade. BUT YOU HAVE TO GET IT RIGHT! This was technically speaking, the worst film I've seen in a long time. Even Youtube video is better than this. There are no close ups, and the half wide shots we get of the girls' faces are all in the dark or in the shade. You never get to see the girls. In fact, the FIRST close up we get that is sharp and well-lit, is of the GUY? What is THAT?! Is Hamilton actually gay? Or what? Was he on drugs when he made this?It is simply awful! Couldn't he have at least read ONE book about film making? A leaflet? For sure, you should have some sort of introduction of the characters, this is most effectively done with a wide-shot, half-wide shot, close-up sequence. In this way some sort of identification is possible. Here, not so much. Especially with girls that look so much a like, it's important to establish who is who and who did what, and with whom. This is completely ignored in this film.Another commenter said that this is his best film, because of the awful dialog in Bilitis and Tendre Cousins. This is a backhanded compliment if I ever saw one. The solution to bad dialog is not NO dialog, but better dialog. Get a writer?Okay, so films don't always need dialog, there are some very good dialog-less films made. Yet, 60 minutes completely without plot? Combined with this supermarket-music for airports? I watched this film in the morning, sitting on a straight backed hard chair in a cold apartment, drinking coffee. Yet I fell asleep 3 or 4 times, it was just that boring a movie. And yes, yes, there are plot-less films, which are quite good. And there are bad plot-less films. And there are plot-less films, which are really BAD. And then ... there is "Un été à Saint-Tropez".To paraphrase ol' Winston Churchill: Never has so LITTLE been accomplished with so MANY: so MANY devastatingly beautiful actresses and so MUCH breath-taking scenery. If only we had been able to see these actresses' faces properly! A body is not that interesting, the lack of face-time in this dog is what eventually seals it's fate.And while I don't know his money situation at the time, I really do think he should have been able to afford a good light crew. And who did he think he was fooling with that fake soundtrack?still rated five for casting.
... View MoreJust saw this movie in Internet and I'm still under the influence of the magic Hamilton achieved here. No dialogs, no apparent plot, looking more like a looooong Playboy (or whatsoever) clip shot by a professional photographer than really a movie.But the result... Magic! Hard not being affected by so much beautifulness. Eight lovely teenagers moving around the screen, in clothes or naked, during almost an hour feels like hitting the Heavens! Be that as it may, when you look for a Hamilton movie, you're looking for what is plenty shown on this one: young women. That's all the film is about, and is all the film has to offer you: beautiful young women. If this is what you are looking for, then this one is for you. And is the best he did, unfortunately the last one. It's a shame that this kind of work of art cannot be done anymore.10 out of 10, because it's the last one of it's genre!
... View MoreThere is no more beautiful sight on God's green earth, than a nubile young female and I make no excuses for enjoying looking at them. David Hamilton has had a terrific life photographing girls. I have seen his other work and a lot of it is to be admired, this film though, isn't very good.(At least my copy of the DVD.)It is dated 1984 but appears to be shot in the seventies, grainy and faded with bad sound. Bright sunlight is difficult to 'shoot' in but half the time I found it hard to see anything clearly. (Bilitis is also shot in sunlight yet is fine, all is sharp.)So be warned, if you wish to spend sixty minutes hoping to see sharp clear images of young girls disporting themselves on beaches, this film isn't it!
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