For a film revolving around incest, Spring Night, Summer Night is surprisingly restrained, captivating, and ultimately beautiful. The characters, writing, and production are all far better than I expected, and really remarkable for a film made in the late 1960s.
The filmmakers were quite brave for taking on this subject matter. This film could easily have turned to trash in less adept hands. Yet they somehow managed to tell this story in away that feels authentic and is almost entirely non-sensational. The entire film feels like a documentary really. The dialog and acting come across as real in a way that few films ever successfully pull off, especially older films. The film never explains anything to you, and the characters rarely can explain themselves, and yet you still walk away feeling like you know all of the characters and even the town itself.
The cinematography is also wonderful. Often intimate, it makes you feel like part of the scene. This isn't common in films of the era and it's done really well here. The bar scenes are the highlight for me. There are also some excellent creative shots that are beautiful yet not overly showy.
The audio design also stands out. There is no background music and audio is often jumbled. A family dinner for example is appropriately noisy, with family members talking over each other combined with the sounds of the meal itself. Sometimes part of a conversation will be drowned out by a passing car. Again, this all makes you feel like part of the scene instead of passively viewing it.
Overall, this is just a remarkable film: sometimes beautiful, other times thought provoking, and always captivating. It's like nothing I've seen from the era and I highly recommend it, even if the plot description turns you off.
