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Summer Things (2002)

Name: Summer Things
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Released: 2002-03-04
Duration: 103 min
Rating: 5.9
Cast: Charlotte Rampling, Jacques Dutronc, Michel Blanc, Carole Bouquet, Denis Podalydès

Summer Things (2002), directed by Michel Blanc, starring Charlotte Rampling and Jacques Dutronc.

03/04/2002 BR Comedy, Drama and Romance 1h 43m

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Synopsis

Two couple of friends, one very rich, the other almost homeless, decide to go on Holiday. Julie, a single mother, joins them too. Once at seaside, it starts a complicate love cross among them that will involve also a transsexual, a jealous brother, a Latin Lover and another nervous stressed couple. Not to mention about the daughter of one of them that is secretly in Chicago with one of her father's employees... At the end of the summer, all of them will join the same party...

Sean BobbittCinematography
Michel BlancDirector, Screenplay
Maryline MonthieuxEditing
Yves MarmionProducer

Summer Things Collection

The franchise in release order. 2 films.

Embrassez qui vous voudrez 2002 · you are here
Amantes e Traições 2018

About the film

Summer Things (French: Embrassez qui vous voudrez; Italian: Baciate chi vi pare, also known as See How They Run) is a 2002 romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by Michel Blanc, based on the 1998 novel of the same name by Joseph Connolly. The ensemble cast includes Charlotte Rampling, Jacques Dutronc, Carole Bouquet, Michel Blanc, Karin Viard, Gaspard Ulliel and Mélanie Laurent. The film is a co-production between France, the United Kingdom and Italy.

The film was released to critical acclaim and was a box-office hit in France, with over 1 million tickets sold. Karin Viard won the César Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance as Véronique. Gaspard Ulliel won the Lumière Award for Most Promising Actor for his performance as Loïc.

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Plot

Elizabeth and Bertrand are typical representatives of Parisian society. Behind the facade of a perfect marriage is dissatisfaction and boredom. He is a successful real estate agent having fun with much younger women or men behind the back of his wife. She suffers under the crushing uneventful life of a housewife and looks forward to a family holiday with daughter Emily. Bertrand backs out at the last minute and sends in his place Julie, Elizabeth's best friend and his former lover. He is free for a new love affair in Paris. The neighbors, Véro and Jérôme have very different problems. Jérôme is unemployed and collects gas meters. He hides his feelings of failure from Véro and son Loic. Since Véro wants to keep up with the neighbors, both families end up in the same resort. Numerous mistakes, misunderstandings and surprises are inevitable.

Cast

Charlotte Rampling as Elizabeth Lannier

Jacques Dutronc as Bertrand Lannier

Carole Bouquet as Lulu

Michel Blanc as Jean-Pierre

Karin Viard as Véronique

Denis Podalydès as Jérôme

Clotilde Courau as Julie

Vincent Elbaz as Maxime

Lou Doillon as Emilie

Sami Bouajila as Kévin

Gaspard Ulliel as Loïc

Mélanie Laurent as Carole

Reception

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 100%, based on 6 reviews, with an average rating of 7.4/10.

AlloCiné, a French cinema website, gave the film an average rating of 4.0/5, based on a survey of 23 French reviews.

Box office

In France, Summer Things was released to 408 screens, where it debuted at number three at the box office, selling 480,951 tickets. It sold a total of 1,336,579 tickets after 6 weeks in cinemas, ranking at number 24 of the highest-grossing films in France in 2002. The film grossed a total of $8,738,101 worldwide.

Accolades

References

External links

Summer Things at IMDb

Text from Summer Things on Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summer_Things

Trivia

It grossed US$ 8.7 million worldwide.
It premiered on March 4, 2002, a Monday.
It runs 1h43 — a typical feature length.
Its original title is "Embrassez qui vous voudrez".
It won 1 award(s) and received 0 nomination(s) on record at Wikidata — César Award for Best Supporting Actress among them.
It is film 1 of 2 in the Summer Things franchise.
As of September 21, 2026, it is available in Brazil by subscription on Belas Artes à La Carte.
This film's quiz has 12 questions — enough to play more than once without repeats.

Production

StudiosUGC Films, Dan Films, Alia Films, France 2 Cinéma, Canal+, Mercury Film Productions, UGC YM, Sofica Sofinergie 5
CountriesFrance, Italy, United Kingdom
LanguagesGerman, Italian, French, English
Box officeUS$ 8,738,101
StatusReleased

More about this film

Awards

César Award for Best Supporting Actress

Set in

Paris

Where to watch

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Crew

Sean Bobbitt Cinematography
Michel Blanc Director
Maryline Monthieux Editing
Yves Marmion Producer
Michel Blanc Screenplay

Questions about this film

What is Summer Things about?

Summer Things: Two couple of friends, one very rich, the other almost homeless, decide to go on Holiday. Julie, a single mother, joins them too. Once at seaside, it starts a complicate love cross among them that will involve also a transsexual, a jealous brother, a Latin Lover and another nervous stressed couple. Not to mention abou…

Who directed Summer Things?

Summer Things was directed by Michel Blanc in 2002.

Who stars in Summer Things?

The cast of Summer Things includes Charlotte Rampling, Jacques Dutronc, Michel Blanc, Carole Bouquet and Denis Podalydès.

How long is Summer Things?

Summer Things runs for 103 minutes, or 1h43.

Where can I watch Summer Things?

Summer Things is available on Belas Artes à La Carte. Availability changes often: the list on this page is the most recent we received.

What awards did Summer Things win?

Summer Things has 1 recorded awards, among them César Award for Best Supporting Actress.

What is the correct order of the Summer Things Collection films?

The Summer Things Collection franchise has 2 films in the catalogue. In release order: Embrassez qui vous voudrez; Amantes e Traições.