Line #8 Film/LastSummer1969


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lastsummerpageimage.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:''[[{{Tagline}} Last summer was too beautiful to forget ...and too painful to remember.]]'']]
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4	A 1969 drama film directed by Frank Perry and [[TheFilmOfTheBook adapted]] by his wife Eleanor from Creator/EvanHunter's eponymous novel published the year before, ''Last Summer'' is a [[ComingOfAgeStory coming-of-age story]] about four teenagers, all with [[DysfunctionJunction hard lives]] and [[ParentalIssues strained relationships with their parents]], spending a summer vacation together on UsefulNotes/{{New York\|State}}'s Fire Island.
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6	One day while playing on the beach, Sandy (Creator/BarbaraHershey) discovers a seagull with a broken wing, shortly before being greeted by Peter (Creator/RichardThomas) and Dan (Creator/BruceDavison). Together, the three of them band together to fix the seagull's wing and teach it to fly again. As this project continues, they [[WeAreStrugglingTogether bond and commiserate]] over issues they have with adults, particularly their parents. Also lots of [[TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior alcohol]] and [[SexAsRiteOfPassage sex]].
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8	Towards the end of this project to help out the seagull, they encounter a younger and [[NoSocialSkills socially awkward]] girl named [[ShrinkingViolet Rhoda]] (Catherine Burns), who voices her issues with their attempts at rehabilitating the seagull. Though distant at first, the three warm up to the new girl, and decide to teach her how to swim. Romance and horror ensue.
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10	Catherine Burns received an UsefulNotes/AcademyAward nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her performance.
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12	----
13	!!Tropes:
14	* AccidentalMisnaming: Anibal gets Rhoda's name wrong as Rosa.
15	* AdaptationalHeroism: Of a sort. In the film, [[spoiler: Rhoda is only raped by Dan (though Peter and Sandy provide assistance)]]. In the novel, [[spoiler: both David (Dan's counterpart) and Peter take turns raping Rhoda.]]
16	* AdaptationalNameChange: David in the book is renamed Dan in the film.
17	* TheAlcoholic: Implied with Peter and Dan's parents.
18	* BeachEpisode: The film takes place on Fire Island and most of the scenes are by the shore.
19	* BettyAndVeronica: The dark-haired, manipulative Sandy is the Veronica, while the awkward, good-hearted Rhoda is the Betty to Peter (the closest archetype to an Archie).
20	* BingeMontage: Everyone [[ItMakesSenseInContext washes each other's hair]] after smoking marijuana.
21	* BolivianArmyEnding: The movie ends with [[spoiler:the rest of the group walking away from Rhoda, who is catatonic or even dead on the ground, after she is raped by Dan and held down by Peter and Sandy.]]
22	* ComingOfAgeStory: A dark one.
23	* DatingServiceDisaster: The main cast winds up setting up a date between [[spoiler: Rhoda]] and a Puerto Rican man named Anibal. This proves somewhat disastrous for both parties. [[spoiler: Although Anibal is personable and appears to be generally harmless, at bare minimum he has no issue drinking three Scotches in quick succession, and he's aiming for a woman much younger than him -- albeit not nearly as young as the cast actually is. The main cast clearly don't mind playing with someone else's feelings--Rhoda notwithstanding--and are trying to use him for free food and booze. They ultimately let him get beaten up by a [[GangOfBullies trio of rowdy young men]]. This leads to a conflict between Rhoda and the other three, which culminates in Dan raping her while the other two pin her down.]]
24	* DirtyOldMan: Zigzagged by Anibal. Despite Rhoda's fear, he turns out to be a perfectly nice man. ''But'' he is significantly older than Rhoda.
25	* DisproportionateRetribution: [[spoiler:When Sandy gets bitten by the seagull that they rehabilitated, [[TeensAreMonsters she kills it with a rock]] the next day.]]
26	* DownerEnding: [[spoiler:Dan rapes Rhoda with the cooperation of Peter and Sandy, and the three of them leave the broken girl behind in the sand. The end.]]
27	* DysfunctionJunction: Most of the cast has seen their parents divorce and most of those find terrible new partners. Additionally, both Sandy and Rhoda [[spoiler: have been molested by friends of their parents at least once]]. Rhoda's mother [[spoiler: drowned during a drunken dare]]. The boys don't have it much easier and it is likely that their parents are [[TheAlcoholic alcoholics]]. All their parents seem rather [[ParentalNeglect neglectful]] and the four receive [[FreeRangeChildren no supervision]] the entire length of the film.
28	* ForebodingCarcass: [[spoiler:Sandy's killing of the seagull they were rehabilitating is the major turning point towards darkness.]]
29	* FreeRangeChildren: The surviving parents of the four children are never seen in the movie while they are on summer vacation and the only time they are nearby is when they are at a house party getting drunk offscreen. While part of this is the more permissiveness of the time, part of this is also due to [[ParentalNeglect neglectful parenting]] and the teens really do get themselves in many situations that teenagers shouldn't be in.
30	* FreudianTrio: The gang becomes this with Rhoda. Peter is the superego, as the kindest and most superficially nice to her. Dan is the id - [[spoiler:he's the one who rapes Rhoda in the film]] - and Sandy is the ego. At times, she's nicer to Rhoda, but also shows a nastier streak such as [[BadPeopleAbuseAnimals when she kills the seagull.]]
31	* GangOfBullies: There's a trio of rowdy young men who harass the main characters after hours. Unlike more typical examples, these men are far from harmless. [[spoiler: Over the course of the film Dan, Peter and Sandy become this to Rhoda.]]
32	* HairContrastDuo: Rhoda is blonde with an unflattering bowl cut. Sandy has long dark hair.
33	* LatinLover: [[spoiler: The computer dating service sets up Anibal the Puerto Rican with the main group, ultimately Rhoda is 'his date.' Played with in that he's actually somewhat shy.]]
34	* LoveTriangle: Of a sort. Peter is split between the manipulative free-spirited Sandy, and the awkward, shy Rhoda.
35	* MaliciousMisnaming: Unlike the AccidentalMisnaming of Rhoda as "Rosa", Sandy is implied to be deliberately misnaming Anibal as ''Annabel''.
36	* MinimalistCast: For half of the movie, there are really only Dan, Peter and Sandy. Rhoda joining makes it 4, but there are few extras and only Anibal gets any screentime worth mentioning.
37	* MissingMom: [[spoiler: Rhoda's mother died recently in a drunken bet that she couldn't swim to an isolated sandbar and back. She couldn't (at least while drunk), drowned and now Rhoda harbors ill will towards her.]]
38	* RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil: [[spoiler: In the film, Dan performs this on Rhoda with the full cooperation of Sandy and Peter. In the book, it's even worse: David and Peter take turns.]]
39	* SceneryDissonance: Most of the scenes take place during the bright sun on Fire Island. For most of the film, an ominous atmosphere pervades the story, contrasting with the sunny shoreline. [[spoiler: Rhoda is raped by Dan with the collusion of Peter and Sandy in the middle of a brightly lit forest on the sunniest day of the Summer.]]
40	* SheCleansUpNicely: Sandy convinces the somewhat frumpily dressed [[NoSocialSkills Rhoda]] to wear a bikini alongside a dress, instead of a one piece and pantsuit respectively. [[spoiler: Peter begins to develop feelings for her alongside his existent feelings for Sandy.]]
41	* TheStoner: Implied with Peter's parents. Peter and the maid know that they smoke marijuana due to the intense smell it leaves (even with the windows open) and he seems to be able to effortlessly steal from their supply without alerting them.
42	* TeensAreMonsters: These teenagers drink, swear, strip, feel each other up and worse.

Context Film / LastSummer1969