There is something absurd about being left in the city during the dogdays of summer, but for filmmakers it has long been rich material—with the urban landscape providing a fitting backdrop for sex, sweat and madness. Below, our editorial team have picked twelve films that will have you pining for an endless summer.
Paolo Sorrentino, Parthenope (2004)
Naples has never looked so good as in Paolo Sorrentino’s Parthenope. A preternatural Celeste dalla Porta stars in the titular role—a young woman who fends off men as she decides how she wants to live her life. Set over her lifetime—which feels as long as the longest summer’s day—Parthenope is named after a Greek siren associated with Naples’ founding. Dalla Porta had previously starred as an extra in a cut scene of Sorrentino’s Naples-set Maradona biopic Hand of God—adding metatextual layers to the film’s own Napolitan mythology. (Kitty Grady)
Mira Nair, Mississippi Masala (1991)
Denzel Washington and Sarita Choudhury (in her debut) star in Mira Nair’s scorching Mississippi romance about an interracial relationship between two young lovers—an African American man and an Indian American woman. With vibrant cinematography by Ed Lachman and Washington and Choudhury serving up palpable chemistry, the film has slowly but surely built a legacy as a cult classic summertime love-story. (Luke Georgiades)
Jim McBride, Breathless (1983).
At A Rabbit’s Foot we’re unapologetic fans of Jim McBride’s 1983 remake of the Godard classic. Well, it’s more of a reimagining—this time set in a sweltering LA summer as rockabilly rebel Jesse (played by Richard Gere) steals a car and elopes with his French lover Monica. That Angelino orange once again sets the backdrop but there are also pink hues that reflect the 1980s kitsch and camp city cowboy outfits and Cadillac cars. Summer in LA has rarely been hotter. (Chris Cotonou)
Jacques Rivette, Céline and Julie Go Boating (1974)
At the opening of Jacques Rivette’s 1974 classic, Celine (Juliet Berto) traipses across a Parisian park in summertime, dropping a litany of objects. Intrigued, Julie (Dominique Labourier), who has just been reading a book on magic, follows after her, picking up the items and beginning a madcap journey in which the two women swap lives and indulge whimsical fantasies, which includes rescuing a girl from a haunted house. (KG)
Richard Linklater, Before Sunrise (1995)
One of the all time great “24 hour” movies, Richard Linklater’s beloved first entry in his Before Trilogy sees Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy as wayfaring strangers Jesse and Celine who—after a meet-cute on a train through Europe—spontaneously decide to spend the day roaming the streets of Vienna. Followed by Before Sunset and Before Midnight, Sunrise the most viscerally romantic in the series. (LG)
Sidney Lumet, Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
Famous for the frenzied performances by Al Pacino and the great John Cazale, Sidney Lumet’s bank robbery drama (comedy?) is based on a true story. On a summer’s day in Brooklyn, first time crook Sonny Wortzik and his friend decided to rob the First Brooklyn Savings Bank. The season is used as a tool for showing the sweaty tensions as the drama unfolds. Brooklyn is grimy, sleazy, and raucous, and—for both Sonny and the city’s citizens—there’s no place to hide from the heat. (CC)
Woody Allen, Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008)
Woody Allen’s “European era” saw him shoot in London, Paris and Rome, with the cities playing as important a part as the ensemble casts. The sexiest of them is his trip to the Catalan capital, with a film where a euro trip between two American friends Vicky (Rebecca Hall) and Cristina (Scarlett Johansson) changes its course when they meet virile artist Juan Antonio Gonzalo (Antonio Banderas) and his fiery wife Maria Elena (Penelope Cruz, naturally). What says European getaway more than a threeway kiss under the red haze of a darkroom? (KG)
Spike Lee, Do The Right Thing (1989)
You can feel the sticky summer heat during every moment of Spike Lee’s seminal New York set third feature Do The Right Thing — which follows the increasing racial tension between the residents of a Brooklyn neighbourhood over the course of a single blistering day in the city. The film established Lee as, not only one of the leading directors of his generation, but of a small batch of filmmakers able to capture New York with unmistakable, inimitable authenticity.
Joel Schumacher, Falling Down (1993)
Michael Douglas loses it in Los Angeles on a summer’s day so offensively hot it encourages him to go on a murderous crime spree. Falling Down is basically a movie about how summer in the city can turn our under-the-surface violent thoughts into reality, as seething point-dexter William Foster goes vigilante on the City of Angels thanks to his disgust towards society. He’s divorced, unemployed; he’s probably a blueprint for today’s incels. Douglas plays Gen-X Travis Bickle perfectly, and the film’s rhythm never misses a beat. Sometimes, summer in the city can bring out the worst in us. (CC)
Eric Rohmer, The Green Ray (1986)
Ok sure, not all of Eric Rohmer’s The Green Ray takes place in a city, but it perfectly captures that last one left standing feeling. Delphine (Marie Rivière), who has just gone through a break-up, and has had a friend ditch her to go on holiday with a boyfriend, is left alone without summer plans in a deserted Paris. She makes successive, failed attempts to go on holiday—both solo and in groups—where she only feels more alone. “I need a real vacation,” cries Delphine to a friend. We can relate. (KG)
Paul Thomas Anderson, Licorice Pizza (2021)
Paul Thomas Anderson’s ode to an endless 70s California summer stars Cooper Hoffman as a teen actor who falls head over heels for a directionless young woman in her 20s (played by musician Alana Haim in her debut acting role), their relationship ebbing and flowing as they adventure through the San Fernando Valley. A sweet, nostalgia-tinged hangout movie from one of contemporary cinema’s most acclaimed auteurs.
