Summer Lovers

In a recent interview, director Randal Kleiser, the filmmaker behind "Summer Lovers" -- which is out now on Blu-ray via a limited-edition disc from Twilight Time -- lamented that his fun-in-the-sun feature had become known as a very-80s guilty pleasure.

For that designation, he can probably blame the soundtrack: "Sexy Dancer" by Prince, "Just Can't Get Enough" by Depeche Mode, and more than one track by Tina Turner all get cued up. The Twilight Time disc allows you to isolate the music tracks, alongside the score of Basil Poledouris. And without the dialogue, you don't lose much: Everything integral to "Summer Lovers" is said with the body.

Michael (Peter Gallagher) is vacationing on the islands of Greece with his longtime girlfriend Cathy (Daryl Hannah), but what really matters is the way that his eyes set aflame with excitement at the sight of all the topless women strewn about the beaches. Just compare that to his reaction when a sexual self-help book leads Cathy to introduce a bit of light bondage to their bedroom: "I hope that book has a chapter on first aid."

So when he runs into Lina -- as played by Valerie Quennessen, she's the living embodiment of sexual freedom -- he keeps running until he ends up in her bedroom. Then he runs to Cathy, breaking up their years-long relationship just days into a two-month vacation stay. He doesn't expect the next sprint: Cathy goes to Lina and makes friends with the adventurous other woman. And he certainly didn't plan the following development: The trio dashes into a three-way living arrangement, and they each find the resulting open relationship to be entirely fulfilling.

Soon enough Michael is sitting in the sun, reading Greek issues of "Spider-Man" comics, and staring in awe at the two topless beauties roaming about his vacation home. He's got the same rascally look that he had on the beaches earlier, but now he can touch everything he's staring at. So we're watching an unabashedly straight-male sexual fantasy, about a man who finds himself living with both a committed emotional partner and an unreservedly sexual one, and the fact that "I'm So Excited!" plays under the aforementioned staring is enough to confirm that the film is self-aware about that. Even Lina knows the score: She opens up to Cathy about her past, while brushing off all of Mike's questions. She knows that what he wants isn't verbal.

The love triangle develops, but the movie has no idea what to do with it. Sometimes it leans on the language of farce: Like the night that Cathy's mother walks in on the trio, then takes them to dinner, an experience that reaches peak-awkward when a boy Cathy almost hooked up with (on the night Michael dumped her) shows up as their waiter. And when Lina faces an inevitable crisis of conscience and stages a temporary walkout, we're watching a tragedy. But for all its astute observations about male cluelessness, the movie ends up indulging the aforementioned fantasies. It may be self-aware, but that doesn't mean it's self-critical.

The Blu-ray release sports a sparkling visual transfer of the postcard-ready visuals, as well as a number of other extra features. There are two trailers -- one red-banded, and one family-friendly -- as well as fifteen minutes of screen tests. (Some familiar faces are included.) Two short documentaries are here, as well: A "making-of" featurette (running about 15 minutes), and "His Life and His Music," which profiles Poledouris (that runs about 45 minutes). In addition to the isolated score track there's a commentary with Kleiser, where he speaks about the cast, their chemistry, and some of the concerns he had while shooting the film.

One of the topics discussed in the interview mentioned above is the film's limited perspective. Because the story belongs to Michael, a sexual relationship between Lina and Cathy is suggested, but never shown. Pleasure only seems fit for straight men, whether you're a character or a viewer. (As Julie Kirgo points out in an essay that accompanies the disc, there's a metric ton of nudity here -- but almost none of it is from male bodies.) To limit the point of view at the expense of the lesbian relationship may not be the most offensive form of erasure. But it's a problem that "Summer Lovers" can't outrun. And it calls back to that phrase mentioned earlier: the film is guilty of being much too coy about women's pleasure.

"Summer Lovers"
Blu-ray
$29.95
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