A fateful summer
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | A fateful summer |
| Original title | A summer story |
| Country of production | Great Britain |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1988 |
| length | 92 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Piers Haggard |
| script | Penelope Mortimer |
| production | Danton Rissner |
| music | Georges Delerue |
| camera | Kenneth MacMillan |
| cut | Ralph Sheldon |
| occupation | |
| |
A fateful summer (Original: A Summer Story ; German TV title: Geschichte einer Sommers ) is a British love drama, which was directed in 1988 by director Piers Haggard based on the story The Apple Tree by Nobel Prize winner John Galsworthy .
action
In 1922 the Ashtons went on a vacation trip through Dartmoor in their automobile . During a break she goes to paint, he should take care of the picnic. At the sight of a weathered wooden gate he is overwhelmed by the memory of an experience in his past that happened here at this place 18 years ago.
In the summer of 1904, the young London lawyer Frank Ashton is on a hike with his friend, the doctor Garton, to Widecombe-in-the-Moor in Dartmoor. Ashton sprained his ankle while jumping over the said gate. Looking for help, they notice the young Megan David in a neighboring meadow. The young woman takes them to the farm of Mrs. Narracombe, where the orphaned Megan grew up and to whose son Joe she is engaged. From the very first moment Megan feels affection for Frank Ashton, whose swollen ankle she treats with care. Frank, too, begins to take an increasing interest in Megan. When Megan visits her friend Betsy Beecher to shear the sheep, he lets servant Jim explain the way there. The following night, the two of them get intimate for the first time in the hayloft at Beecher Farm. The two spend a lot of time together, which arouses the suspicion and jealousy of Joe Narracombe. When it all turns into a fist, Mrs Narracombe urges Frank to leave to smooth things over. Passionate about it, Frank Ashton asks Megan to join him in Chelsea . Ashton leaves for Torquay and promises to catch her up immediately.
Once in Torquay, Frank Ashton had money worries and he could only get money after telegraphing information from his bank in Chelsea. By chance he meets his former fellow student Phil Halliday and makes the acquaintance of his three sisters, of whom Stella, who is the same age, begins to show an interest in him. Ashton is put off until the next day by the bank if asked. He telegraphed Megan's friend Betsy Beecher about the change of date. Ashton spends his free time with Hallidays. In a swimming accident, he saves Phil Halliday's life and takes him into his confidence about Megan. Halliday, anxious to marry off his sister Stella, speaks to Frank about the problems that the class differences between Frank and Megan will entail. Megan has now secretly left home and went to see her friend Betsy. After receiving the telegram, she decides to look for Frank in Torquay. He missed the train to Bovey Tracey and is taken over by the Hallidays. Frank and Stella get closer. While walking, Frank sees Megan on the beach and secretly follows her. At the crucial moment, when Megan turns to look at him, he hides behind a corner of the house. His classism triumphed over love for Megan.
In 1922, Frank Ashton sits on a ridge above Narracombe Farm, wondering what happened to his former love, Megan. Suddenly he meets the now elderly servant Jim. Although Ashton has changed outwardly, Jim recognizes him and leads him to a grave near the gate. Here the visibly moved Frank Ashton has to learn that Megan lost herself in lovesickness and depression after her return from Torquay. Jim literally called her "a lost soul". The following spring she died in the difficult birth of her son Francis. According to her last wish, she was buried here in this place, the place where she saw her great love for the first time. Frank says goodbye to Jim and continues with Stella, who has become his wife. Shortly afterwards, on the way, he meets a young man who has returned from the hunt and crosses the street in front of her automobile and gives a friendly nod. The man is Frank Ashton's face. The dismayed Frank has to realize that unsuspecting he has a son with his first love Megan.
Locations
The film was made in the south-west English counties of Devon and Somerset . The farm recordings were made at Lyncombe Farm in Exmoor National Park .
Reviews
The lexicon of international films wrote that the film was "banal entertainment" that was "played and staged with some care".
literature
- John Galsworthy : The Apple Tree. Narration (original title: The Apple Tree ). German by Leon Schalit . Zsolnay, Vienna 1950, 139 pp.
Web links
- A Summer in the Internet Movie Database (English)