The Cinematheque

I keep going back to the obvious titles: Do the Right Thing, Rear Window, Seven Year Itch, etc…

Kate

It’s that time of year where we all seek refuge in the air-conditioned luxury of a theatre and Cinematheque staffers are no different. Read on as we share with you a list of films that epitomize the dog days of summer.

“Call Me by Your Name. I love love love this movie. The Italian summer heat is palpable and becomes the perfect backdrop for the romantic tension and coming-of-age drama in this film. The musical additions of artists such as Sufjan Stevens in the soundtrack add a strong layer of sad girl summer that I listen to on the regular.” —Thea

“I have used this theme before for a home cinema screening day except with the added shared locale of New York City. My ​‘Hot Day in the City’ trifecta is: Dog Day Afternoon, Do the Right Thing, and Die Hard with a Vengeance. With the addition of Stray Dog and Cool Hand Luke for an extra hot summer viewing.” —Al

“Whether it’s the explicit tagline in Jaws, ​‘Don’t go in the water!,’ or Bodhi pleading with Johnny Utah to ​‘Let me get one wave before you take me,’ in Point Break, bodies of water in film have always signified to me, the onslaught of hot summer days. What could be better than lounging next to the pool while Alain Delon swims laps (and stares at you with those cobalt-blue eyes) in La Piscine? Or hiding with Franck (equal parts terrified and excited) in the woods at the edge of the lake in Stranger by the Lake?? Nothing. Nothing is better than watching a cool, sweat-quenching movie on a hot summer’s day.” —Gerilee

“For me, the summer movie is synonymous with Eric Rohmer. His penchant for staging talky tales of attraction against the backdrop of beaches, blue skies, and barely clad bodies can be found throughout his signature thematic series—with my favourite, 1986’s The Green Ray (Le rayon vert), appearing in the ​‘Comedies and Proverbs’ cycle. (It is the fifth installment.) It stars Marie Rivière (also co-writer) as a lovably pouty Parisian ditched by her friend on the cusp of summer vacation and now scrambling to make alternate plans before she returns to her ho-hum secretarial life. She’s insecure, somewhat introverted, and searching for signs—in playing cards and an atmospheric phenomenon—of love. (She’s also a vegetarian, an arrow through my heart.) The unforced naturalism, the plein-air photography, the fashion, my god, the fashion (if you don’t yet follow @rohmerfits on Instagram, fix that)—all hallmarks of a ​‘best in show’ Rohmer picture. But most germane to this listicle is the film’s irresistible notion of summer fate, of a romance that just might outlast the season.”
—Shaun

“Purple Noon has to be my top pick for the repressive, sweaty, dog days of summer. At times taking you through a frenzied panic, and at others, the heat-oppressed inability to even open your eyes in the effort to raise a cocktail to your lips. The crime thriller is carried by peak-hotness Alain Delon (yes, even hotter than he is in Le samouraï), through a 1960s-Amalfi Coast. For those who enjoyed Steven Zaillian’s Ripley series released this year, Purple Noon is a must-see original film adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s novel, and always worth a re-watch. Whether it actually cools you off … I can’t substantiate.” —Emma

“Wages of Fear, 1953.” —Linton