Restored by Nicolas Winding Refn’s brand, byNWR.com, and available on that website as well as Mubi, Spring Night, Summer Night (1967) is a rediscovered film, the only feature length directorial work by Joseph L. Anderson, a film professor from the University Of Ohio. Aiming for neo-realism while focused on country people in Ohio, the black-and-white cinematography by David Prince looks beautiful in the remastered version. It also places me in the mind of Ingmar Bergman movies, and the European New Wave is no doubt an influence on how a sordid subject matter – family incest between a half brother Carl (Ted Heimerdinger) and a sister (Larue Hall) – is conveyed as a perceptive drama that balances arguments and noise with stillness and beauty. Even the most antagonist characters, the alcoholic parents (John Crawford and Marjorie Johnson) are given their own moments of grace, solo monologues of desperation and their own despondency at where they are in life. Captures the slowness of small town country life where dry, empty streets exist alongside barroom hell-raising, even as signs of an emerging youth culture in music records, magazines and motorbikes signify potential alleviation and escape. All under an 82 minutes running time as well. I liked Spring Night, Summer Night, particularly its sense of place and atmospheric camerawork, not to mention the great performances by a cast of unknowns. Recommended.
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