The Criterion Collection

Summertime

Edition no. 22

Packaging Review Discuss Compare

Release Date: Tuesday, 12 July 2022
Country of Release: USA
MSRP: $39.95

Buy Physical Copy At:

Licensor Information

Janus Films

Directed by: David Lean

Featuring: Katharine Hepburn, Rossano Brazzi, Darren McGavin, Jane Rose, Mari Aldon, MacDonald Parke

With this sublimely bittersweet tale of romantic longing, director David Lean left behind the British soundstage to capture in radiant Technicolor the sun-splashed glory of Venice at the height of summer. In a tour de force of fearless vulnerability, Katharine Hepburn embodies the conflicting emotions that stir the heart of a lonely, middle-aged American tourist who is forced to confront her deep-seated insecurities when she is drawn into a seemingly impossible affair with a charming Italian shopkeeper (Rossano Brazzi) amid the ancient city’s canals and piazzas. Lean’s personal favorite among his own films, Summertime is an exquisitely tender evocation of the magic and melancholy of a fleeting, not-quite-fairy-tale romance.

Year: 1955
Time: 100 min.