Watch Passing Summer

Passing Summer is a Swiss film from 2001 directed by Angela Schanelec. The movie revolves around the lives of three friends in their mid-twenties during a summer in Berlin. It's a film that deals with the existential themes of love, friendship, and mortality. The movie begins with Johanna (Ursina Lardi) sitting on a park bench, watching the trees sway in the wind. She's a quiet and introverted girl who's recently moved to Berlin to study. Her friend Vera (Anne Tismer) is also in Berlin. She's a photographer who's struggling to find inspiration for her art. The third friend is Mark (Andreas Patton), who's in Berlin for a few days to visit Johanna.

As the movie progresses, we see the characters going about their daily lives, each struggling with their own inner demons. Johanna is struggling with loneliness and is secretly in love with Mark, who's oblivious to her feelings. Vera, on the other hand, is dealing with a creative slump and a stagnant love life. Mark, an alcoholic writer, is facing his own existential crisis and is trying to come to terms with his rapidly deteriorating health.

The movie is filled with long pauses and silences, which might seem jarring at first but slowly draw the viewer into the characters' inner worlds. The camera lingers on the characters' faces, capturing every twitch of their expressions. And yet, despite the intimacy with which we're allowed to observe them, they remain elusive and mysterious.

Schanelec's direction is minimalistic, with a focus on the characters rather than the plot. She uses space and silence to convey the characters' emotions, and the result is a movie that's both meditative and emotionally complex. The sparse use of dialogue is refreshing, and when the characters do speak, their words have a weight that's rare in cinema.

The cinematography by Reinhold Vorschneider is also worth mentioning. The movie is shot in muted colors, with a focus on the city's empty spaces. The shots of the city's abandoned parks and quiet streets add to the film's bleak but mesmerizing atmosphere.

One of the most striking scenes in the movie is when the three friends visit an art gallery. As they wander through the gallery, each character stops in front of a painting that speaks to their innermost desires and fears. The scene is a masterclass in visual storytelling, where the paintings act as a reflection of the characters' inner landscapes.

The movie's climax is both tragic and transcendent. As the summer passes, the characters come to some realizations about their lives and their place in the world. The final scene is a long shot of Johanna walking through the city, her face an enigmatic mask. It's a moment of both despair and hope, a reminder that life is fleeting, but beauty can be found in the most unexpected places.

Passing Summer is a movie that will not appeal to everyone. Its slow pace and elusive characters might frustrate some viewers. But for those who are willing to surrender to the film's hypnotic rhythm, it's a rewarding and deeply moving experience. It's a film that asks big questions about life and love, and in doing so, captures something essential about the human experience.