• To date- easily the second best film I’ve seen from To Kill a Mockingbird director Robert Mulligan
  • An engaging narrative- nostalgic- notable for the sweeping melodic Oscar-winning musical score by Michel Legrand (Jacques Demy work—Umbrellas, Godard, Thomas Crown Affair– 1968)
  • Coming of age—the mix of nostalgia and raw dialogue certainly feels like it has an influence on everything from Porky’s, to Stand by Me to A Christmas Story (shares the voice-over of the adult protagonist with the latter two)
  • You don’t come away thinking any of these actors are necessarily going to be a star- and that’s at least a little bit telling— which certainly isn’t true with like Stand by Me or something
  • The island setting plays into the film’s surrealistic-like qualities. Jennifer O’Neill (Dorothy)’s house in the film feels like it’s floating out there on its own- the house on the hill- like it existed in his memory/dream as much as reality
  • The climax of the film is great- we have the heightened scene after the western union tragic note. It’s well directed by Mulligan. It stands apart from so much of the crude and funny and dialogue-laden remainder of the movie. This is serious, sad, silent
  • Recommend- not near the top 10 of 1971—closer to the fringe