Summer Rain is a lushly romantic, beautifully crafted paean to young men coming of age in southern Spain in the 1970s. Antonio Banderas's feature-film debut as a director, although an adaptation of a novel, is infused with a very personal quality, unfolding as if from a memory. Pulsating with... [More]

Summer Rain is a lushly romantic, beautifully crafted paean to young men coming of age in southern Spain in the 1970s. Antonio Banderas's feature-film debut as a director, although an adaptation of a novel, is infused with a very personal quality, unfolding as if from a memory. Pulsating with sexuality, resonant with poetry and song, Summer Rain is a lyric discovery that takes us into a fading, but vibrant, past. The film follows the lives of three young men--Miguelito, Paco, and Babirusa--each of whom must confront his past, as well as his future, while indulging in the expected pursuits of youth on the threshold of adulthood, especially, of course, love and sex. For Miguelito, the nascent poet, this centers on one girl in particular: Luli. And as each discovers what life's erratic fortunes have in store for him, they must venture forth, leaving this past and their youthful indiscretions behind. Summer Rain is a film that is painterly in its vision, evocatively emotive, and erotic in a manner that only the Spanish do this well. It is a film about dreams and ambition, about the bumps in the road of life, as well as a reverie for a time in life when everything seems possible.— Sundance Film Festival [Less]