That Summer is not so much for fans of Grey Garden but to those who wanted an even deeper look into the real characters (Big and Little Edie) of Gret Garden. In fact, That Summer is harder to watch for several reasons. For Starters, Grey Garden showcases the truth with kiddie gloves. While That Summer truly shows how unstable and unpredictable Little Edie was. Let alone mentally ill, Little Edie was beyond delusional. Big Edie's so-called imprisonment of each other was not only for their protection to shelter and to hide from reality, but to avoid the shame of what had happened to the family. Grey Gardens may have always been grey but not broken. It was not until the downfall of the family when the men left, the money dried up and the once beautiful mansion fell to disarray. The result is what we see in Grey Gardens and Last Summer exploits. Bottom line, although family and friends helped them by fixing up the house and feeding them, the price for such was to exploit their fall to the public eye. Like Charlie Chaplin's the Tramp kicking the backside of someone higher up than him is the same reason why we as an audience have showcased the two Edie's, it makes us feel superior as the Rich have fallen without their wealth. We sadly embrace the pathetic-ness of the two Edie's to make us feel better, rather than to observe and to dissect an economic observation on what happened to these Long Island aristocrats. Much like the Artists mentioned in the first half of the story, the two Edie's lived in a fantasy. One more glamorous than the other within the eye of the beholder, one still needs to question the overall moral their story tells the audience. As a study of Art or the study of Class or the study of the Human condition, one can argue that their story still is worth exploring, whether it be deemed exploitation or entertainment.
8 Reviews
More Edies
mrbgoode-126 May 2019
Does not add much insight to Grey Gardens, simply adds more Big and Little Edie, of whom I can't get enough. They are extremely entertaining in this movie, arguing and singing and explaining life. If you enjoyed both Grey Gardens docs and the biopic, you will enjoy this.
Narcissism run riot.
MOscarbradley2 February 2020
Narcissism run riot and for collectors of celebrity gossip and curios only. "That Summer" is something of a companion piece to "Grey Gardens" featuring some of the same characters, (the Beales, mostly), but it's really nothing more than the home-movies of Peter Beard, whose friends included Lee Radziwill, Jackie Kennedy-Onassis, Truman Capote. Andy Warhol etc. and it's full of the indolent doodlings of the super-rich. These people are so cut off from the real world they may as well be living on Mars. What's more, the cheap home-movie look of the picture is positively headache-inducing at times and like "Grey Gardens", there's something ghoulish about it but at least "Grey Gardens" felt like a real film, despite being highly intrusive. This is more like a vanity project gone wrong; a road-kill of a movie if there ever was one.
The Past or the Present?
curious_chaos4 December 2018
Warning: Spoilers
I will keep this brief.
This is a movie that has no purpose other than to show more treasured footage of Big and Little Edie Beale. The film is comprised of memories and musings of the way things were.
If you love the Beales, you will enjoy this curiosity. I loved seeing them pre Grey Gardens, while their mansion was being raided by the village of East Hampton. It was fascinating. We get another viewpoint from Lee Radziwill, niece and cousin to the Edie's. The backstory of how Grey Gardens came to be is complex, and this movie brings that to light in an artistic way.
I liked it. Worth a watch.
This is a movie that has no purpose other than to show more treasured footage of Big and Little Edie Beale. The film is comprised of memories and musings of the way things were.
If you love the Beales, you will enjoy this curiosity. I loved seeing them pre Grey Gardens, while their mansion was being raided by the village of East Hampton. It was fascinating. We get another viewpoint from Lee Radziwill, niece and cousin to the Edie's. The backstory of how Grey Gardens came to be is complex, and this movie brings that to light in an artistic way.
I liked it. Worth a watch.
Meta enough?
fourellen18 June 2018
This is a movie about a movie that was never made, and about another movie that was made, instead. I really don't know what this adds to the story of Big Edie and Little Edie of Grey Gardens, and the film footage of the beautiful people of the 1970s is not interesting. I kept hoping for some insight, some reason to revisit Grey Gardens, but this movie doesn't have it.
That summer, the end of an era
Michael Fargo2 August 2020
This is a magnificent memory piece about a time and place that no longer exists...for good or ill. The Hamptons were being discovered, soon to be over-whelmed with tourists drawn to rub shoulders with the very people portrayed in the film. Their reality was unique and not something anyone could just enter.
While primarily centered on the eccentric Beale's, cultural icons Big Edie and Little Edie, others floating around are Warhol, Capote, Peter Beard, Aristotle and Jackie Onassis, all defy what we assumed or knew about them from the media. The film is an aching meditation on change and loss, treating everyone with enormous compassion, which we often don't necessarily attribute to this set of people.
Artfully assembled, the opening Prologue about Peter Beard's artistry is hard to leave, but the unedited footage of 16mm "home movies" that was to be later assembled by Beard and Lee Radziwill--who is stunning in her kind acceptance of her Aunt and Cousin's "reality," as is Beard--is the heart of the film.
The project was abandoned, and Beard discovering the footage after the fame of "Gray Gardens", simply runs four undiscovered reels without any editing. It's an extension of his techniques as a photographic collage artist. The jarring occasional intrusion of "normal," represented by Building Code inspectors, electricians, plumbers and Health Department personnel really highlights how rarified this group of celebrities and artists were. It recalls a period, for those who lived through it, that's realized casually but vividly; and, along with the creators, you mourn the loss and passing of an era.
While primarily centered on the eccentric Beale's, cultural icons Big Edie and Little Edie, others floating around are Warhol, Capote, Peter Beard, Aristotle and Jackie Onassis, all defy what we assumed or knew about them from the media. The film is an aching meditation on change and loss, treating everyone with enormous compassion, which we often don't necessarily attribute to this set of people.
Artfully assembled, the opening Prologue about Peter Beard's artistry is hard to leave, but the unedited footage of 16mm "home movies" that was to be later assembled by Beard and Lee Radziwill--who is stunning in her kind acceptance of her Aunt and Cousin's "reality," as is Beard--is the heart of the film.
The project was abandoned, and Beard discovering the footage after the fame of "Gray Gardens", simply runs four undiscovered reels without any editing. It's an extension of his techniques as a photographic collage artist. The jarring occasional intrusion of "normal," represented by Building Code inspectors, electricians, plumbers and Health Department personnel really highlights how rarified this group of celebrities and artists were. It recalls a period, for those who lived through it, that's realized casually but vividly; and, along with the creators, you mourn the loss and passing of an era.
For Grey Garden movie lovers
deborah-991724 July 2020
Least interesting: Peter Beard, his collages, photographs, house and the quick footage in the beginning of his celebrity pals.
Most interesting: Big and Little Edie in all their time-capsule glory, and Lee Bouvier Radziwell's visits with them at Grey Gardens.
That Summer is comprised of mostly archival footage, interspersed with Beard's reminiscences and images. The loose premise of the early footage was to capture something of the old Hamptons, before it was saturated with the super wealthy. Lee, Beard and the Maysles fall into the wormhole of the Beales's lives, and the women's eccentricities end up being more fascinating than anything else.
If you are curious about what inspired the Maysles to make their film, this is definitely worth watching. Lee is a lovely presence who is kind to and appreciative of her relatives.
Most interesting: Big and Little Edie in all their time-capsule glory, and Lee Bouvier Radziwell's visits with them at Grey Gardens.
That Summer is comprised of mostly archival footage, interspersed with Beard's reminiscences and images. The loose premise of the early footage was to capture something of the old Hamptons, before it was saturated with the super wealthy. Lee, Beard and the Maysles fall into the wormhole of the Beales's lives, and the women's eccentricities end up being more fascinating than anything else.
If you are curious about what inspired the Maysles to make their film, this is definitely worth watching. Lee is a lovely presence who is kind to and appreciative of her relatives.
I had to stop watching
oasist1725 June 2023
Warning: Spoilers
I loved Grey Gardens, but as I watched this movie, at about 25 minutes in I had to stop watching. These rich people pried the Beales from their home and listened to what their life had been like for years, harsh winters, no trash collection, no heat, the house literally falling apart and overgrown vegitation. AND THESE ARE THEIR RELATIVES who had no intention of helping these 2 beautiful ladies to live a better life with less hardship. No doubt they had they money to help but instead just wanted to film what life had become for them. Unlike Grey Gardens, where I wondered why the rich relatives didn't help them, I didn't know they had exploited them already. It made me sad, a real disgrace.
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