Serenissima & Summertime
The year ended recently. It’s the beginning of a new year. WTF do I talk about? I can’t do a review of the year as I haven’t had this site for a whole year. And I’m not much for predictions or prognostication. Guess I’ll just see where the keyboard and my imagination takes me.
I recently rented a film from the deep dark past. I mention it now, as some of you, like me, are experiencing the cold while we live in the midst of that season known as winter.
My girl friend in Harbin, China told me the weather there wasn’t so bad — her local temperatures hit a high of 6° and a low of minus 12°F a few days ago. And she said, “Not so bad — this is better than usual!” I mention this just to set the scene. But we aren’t going to Harbin.
Well, the title of the movie I rented was Summertime. It was released in 1955, and the story is simple. An American spinster’s dream of romance finally becomes a bittersweet reality when she meets a handsome but married Italian man while vacationing in Venice. Katherine Hepburn plays Jane Hudson, the middle aged American woman who will experience the ’sexual revolution’ of the 1950’s with her leading man Rossano Brazzi’s Renaldo, a quiet yet broadminded and lonely married man.
What a film! Yes, it is summer, in Venice — romance is in the air — and it’s all smashingly filmed in glorious Technicolor. The flavors and passions of Venetian nights simmer deliciously. What could be better than a quick look at another time of the year — when some of us need to escape these winter storms and cold snaps that keep us indoors?
To complete the picture of a wonderful summer experience, I will throw in some fabulous Venetian scenes as painted by Mark Pettit. The art is stunning in its detail as the sun makes everything alive and warm in Pettit’s realistic yet idealized Venice. Above Is Venetian Colors and Gondolas.
Above this text is Riva del Vin (top) and Touring the Grand Canal (bottom). There’s no doubt that the artist has captured Venice in all its glory, right down to the sunlight glinting of the water. These are simply superb paintings.
David Lean directed Summertime, and the movie glows with life and warmth. The evening scene of Jane and Renaldo lying together as the sun sets over Lido is breathtaking and wouldn’t we all like to be right there right now?
Equally breathtaking are some of the models that you’ll find available for your delight on the pages of JustMeMike’s New Also on Video. For now we will say a fond arriverdici to the fabulous Serenissima that is Venezia, Italy. But in our next column, we will say hello to some glorious sights that do not require a gondola or a gondolier to get you there.
[Updated - Originally published January 2006]