csembalo — 15 years ago(December 15, 2010 06:06 PM)

After waiting more than 25 years, I recently had a chance to see Jean in her 1970 Italian film "Ondata di calore" or "Dead of Summer" - a film that received at least some recognition in its day (top prize at the San Sebastian Film Festival in Spain for its director Nelo Risi), yet has almost completely disappeared since its initial release. The version I saw is a copy of an Italian television broadcast with no subtitles and Jean's voice is dubbed. But this hardly matters: the dialogue is limited and Jean's performance is so visually expressive that the story is made clear simply by watching her. And as a review at the time stated, this really is a "one-woman show" - Jean is on screen throughout, from beginning to end. Filming took place just months after she completed "Airport", and yet the contrast between these two performances is truly amazing. In "Airport" she was forced to spout stilted, banal dialogue and her bordeom is apparent, while here she is absolutely free to express herself. This is perhaps her best performance after "Lilith". It's just sad that the film has fallen into almost total obscurity. At this late date, any attempt at restoration or commercial release seems unlikely. This is, I think, the "lost" Seberg performance that all of her fans have been waiting for.
There are some stills and a New York Times review here:
http://jeandorothyseberg.blogspot.com/search/label/dead of summer