Summit
1968 · Italy, France · 100 min
- Director
- Giorgio Bontempi
- Screenplay
- Giorgio Bontempi
- Music
- Mario Nascimbene
- Cinematography
- Erico Menczer
- Editing
- Vincenzo Tomassi
Cast
What it is about
Paolo, an Italian journalist, travels to Paris to attend an international conference with Alberto, his photographer and close friend. There he reconnects with Annie, his former lover, who is involved with Ulrich, a young designer offering her a simpler, more poetic life. As Alberto and Agathe, Annie's friend, grow closer, Paolo and Annie plan to live together again. Annie believes they are heading to Istanbul, but Paolo's work takes him through East Germany and Poland, and the journey takes an unexpected turn in this drama about disillusion and existential unease.
How it was made
The film marked the feature debut of Giorgio Bontempi, a former film critic and journalist for Paese Sera, who also wrote the screenplay and drew on several autobiographical episodes from his own life. While the film was being shot, student riots erupted across Europe, and Bontempi adjusted the shooting schedule to incorporate them into the production. Gian Maria Volonté and Mireille Darc lead the cast, with music by Mario Nascimbene and cinematography by Erico Menczer. It is a French-Italian co-production in Italian.
Reception and legacy
The film premiered in the main competition at the 29th Venice International Film Festival. Giovanni Grazzini, writing for Corriere della Sera, compared it to the work of Claude Lelouch and called it predictable and awkwardly dialogued, while praising its realistic portrait of the protagonist's existentialist unease. Its later reception and legacy are sparsely documented.
Stills
Trivia
Director's debut
Summit marked the feature debut of Giorgio Bontempi, who had previously worked as a film critic and journalist.
Shooting and student revolts
Student riots that broke out across Europe during filming led Bontempi to adapt the shooting schedule to include them.
Original Cinematopedia text based on Wikipedia (es) and Wikipedia (en) and Wikidata.