That Summer (2017)

August 5, 2022 9:05 AM

Albert and David Maysles' classic Grey Gardens immortalized the estate of Edith and Little Edie Beale, relatives of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy, who lived in alarmingly poor conditions. But there is more to the story: it was Lee Radziwill and Peter Beard who first brought the Maysles to the Beales, when the two set out to make a film about Radziwill's childhood. The reels of that first contact were shelved for 45 years. This documentary recovers the lost 16 mm footage. Anchored in Beard's recollections and artistic vision, we are returned to "that summer" in 1972, a seductive dream world and collage of radically unconventional creative personalities---Warhol, Bacon, Jagger, Capote---practicing the art of living amidst oppressive forces of class expectation and prejudice.

83% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.

Currently streaming in the US on Kanopy, AMC+, and DireTV. Also available for digital rental on multiple outlets. Also streaming free on YouTube.

posted by DirtyOldTown (2 comments total)

Three, count 'em, three! Beales docs.

From Variety:

That Summer, from its title to its fine-grained 16mm images, makes you intensely nostalgic (even if you were never there), but the nostalgia, in an odd way, is used for propaganda purposes. It’s out to sell us on the notion that “Little Edie” Beale and her mother were less far gone than we think. What it winds up revealing, however, is that they were even more unhinged than we believed from watching Grey Gardens... The squalor that we saw in “Grey Gardens” was the fake-orderly, cleaned-up version of that house. The real thing was more terrifying.

posted by DirtyOldTown at 9:08 AM on August 5, 2022

I would be interested in seeing this. Like many people in the art world in the late 90s/early 00s, I have stories about Peter Beard. Not too surprised that he is a connection here.
posted by Lawn Beaver at 8:09 AM on August 8, 2022