By Kimi Takesue
This beautiful short drama exquisitely explores the unlikely bond that develops between two people from different worlds. Eight-year old Juliette sits at the side of the local pool waiting for another lonely summer day to pass when an unexpected pair of Japanese newcomers arrives. Fascinated by the mysterious black-clad woman and her yakuza assistant, Juliette transforms an ordinary day into an imaginative adventure, embarking on a surreal journey of discovery.
Tender and beautifully hypnotic, Summer of the Serpent raises provocative questions about difference and desire. It also artfully explores representations of Asians on film, Asian masculinity, and cross-cultural encounters through the story of one young woman's burgeoning sexuality.
Reviews
~ "Recommended"- Library Journal
~ "Kimi Takesue's SUMMER OF THE SERPENT is lulling, hypnotic and gorgeous. Exploring and subverting the appeal of Asiatic mystery, it beautifully evokes the steaming daydreams of summer."- Sam Adams, Philadelphia City Paper
~ "New Yorker Kimi Takesue traveled to Rotterdam with SUMMER OF THE SERPENT, a charming short about a strange encounter at a swimming pool. Keep an eye on the talented Takesue."- V.A. Musetto, New York Post
~ "The latest short from award winner Kimi Takesue is the elegantly shot, richly textured, brilliantly acted story of Juliette, a young girl with big brown eyes and a frown watching the summer pass by. Short on swimming skills she is stuck at the community pool suntanning with Mom. When a woman in black arrives with her enigmatic servant, Juliette glimpses a new world of possibility."- Vancouver International Film Festival
~ "Heralds the emergence of a major filmmaker…creates an alluring cinematic space built around the tensions and mysteries of a silent exchange of gazes, the suspense generated by the discovery of the unknown and the rhythm that springs from the editing and the imaginative use of music."- Berenice Reynaud, California Institute of the Arts
~ "Witty and winsome."- Steven Rea, The Philadelphia Inquirer
~ "Incredibly evocative, thoughtful, and stimulating."- Dr. Timothy Shary, Director of Screen Studies, Traina Center for the Arts, Clark University
~ "Delightfully observant and rhythmic, rich in details that engage and provoke the viewer. A wonderful film for cross-cultural studies and youth centered discussions as rumba meets Japan."- Herman Law, City College of New York
Notes
~ Boston Asian American Film Festival
~ Rhode Island International Film Festival
~ DC Asian Pacific Film Festival
~ Rotterdam International Film Festival
~ Vancouver International Film Festival
~ Tampere International Short Film Festival
~ Festival International de Films de Femmes, Creteil
~ Hamptons International Film Festival
~ Cleveland International Film Festival
~ Philadelphia International Film Festival
~ Brisbane International Film Festival
~ Walker Art Center, "Women with Vision"
~ Florida Film Festival
~ San Francisco Asian International Film Festival
Award
~ Brooklyn International FF - Grand Jury Prize
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