The summer may not be forgotten, but this film will be before the summer is over. The so-so script still contained enough material for an entertaining melodrama, but in the as usual uninspired hands of Werner Jacobs a nothing more than dutiful and below average film is the outcome. As for the script: as said, a bunch of nice story telling ideas, but most of them not thought-out too well. For example: it should not have been the postman telling Marianne that letters from the US had arrived, she should have discovered these herself in the desk, which would have been a dramatically stronger solution (but probably needed a better actress).
I already more or less gave up the hope for a good film during the first 10 minutes during which the expose is done by way of a radio-reporter interviewing and thereby introducing some of the main characters (talk, talk, talk). Boring cast, plain cinematography (Jacobs seems afraid of close-up shots) and terrible Z-grade Mantovani-like music at moments of tension or passion (and I use the terms lightly) add to the tedium. What more is there to say? Maybe this: if you want to learn something about breeding chinchillas, the first 20 minutes or so should be of interest.
