Laura (1979)
"Laura, les ombres de l'été" (original title)

Sculptor Paul meets a former great love again after a long time -- but is much more impressed by her 15 years old daughter Laura, who looks now like her mother when Paul was in love with ... See full summary »

Director:

David Hamilton

Writers:

David Hamilton (story), Joe Morhaim,

Stars:

Maud Adams, Dawn Dunlap, James Mitchell

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Maud Adams	...	Sarah
Dawn Dunlap	...	Laura
James Mitchell	...	Paul Thomas Wyler
Maureen Kerwin	...	Marline Royer
Pierre Londiche	...	Richard Moore
Thierry Redler	...	Costa
Louise Vincent	...	Madame Flory
Bill Millie	...	Le chorégraphe (as William Millie)

Storyline

Sculptor Paul meets a former great love again after a long time -- but is much more impressed by her 15 years old daughter Laura, who looks now like her mother when Paul was in love with her. Laura likes him very much too, but her jealous mother prevents any further contact. She allows him to make a sculpture of Laura, but only from photos.

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Plot Keywords:

sculptor | photo shoot | no panties | teenager | vagina | 

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

28 November 1979 (France)

Also Known As:

Laura, Shadows of a Summer

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cora Films, Les Films de l'Alma

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

This movie and Tattoo represented two of few significant lead roles in cinema movies for actress Maud Adams outside of the James Bond film franchise. Adams was a Bond Girl in both Octopussy and The Man with the Golden Gun.

User Reviews

Classic erotic film

David Hamilton's "Laura" has got to be one of the most gorgeous erotic films of all time. The story of a young girl's sexual awakening is a rather simple one, and certainly more based on fantasy (more specifically, 'male fantasy') than reality. 15 year-old Laura (Dawn Dunlap) lives in a pastel world where everything is white, everyone is beautiful, and nothing is quite real. Laura develops a fascination with the much older Paul, a sculptor with an eye for a special kind of beauty. The conflict here, is that Paul is the former lover of Laura's mother Sara, (Maud Adams). Here develops a classic situation of mother/daughter competition. When Paul sees the beautiful Laura, he is smitten, at the girls beauty, and also at how she resembles Sara, at age 15. Sara's attempts to keep the two separate are not entirely successful. Filmed on the French Riviera, in soft focus style, by renowned photographer Hamilton, you can imagine the look of the film, if you are familiar with his work. It is strange, quiet, dreamlike, quite unlike anything i have seen before. Quite controversial too. Dawn Dunlap, who was not so much older than the character she played, is very graceful and nice to look at, and former Bond girl Maud Adams is incredibly beautiful in this one as well. Although the character of Paul, (James Mitchell) is supposed to be close to 50 years old, the relationship between him and Laura is not so hard to take, as he is also a very handsome guy, who looks nowhere near his age. Also worthy of mention is the lush, dreamlike soundtrack that accompanies these images. One scene that stands out is a dream sequence; Filmed in black & white, Laura is running through a maze of little streets and alleys, looking for Paul, but he continues to allude her. Very nicely done. Hamilton creates a kind of quiet suspense, as the viewer waits for the time when the two get together. While there is nudity in the film, it is all done with the utmost of taste and subtlety. One thing: I cannot stress how important it is when watching this film, that you see the original French language version. The English dubbing for this one is wretched, absolutely dire. It is not even proper English, but American English, and it totally destroys the feeling and tone of this very French film. I first saw it in English, and I didn't think too much of the film, as the visuals were great, but the voices and dialog were so bad. When i saw the French version, it was like another experience entirely. Usually i don't mind voice dubbing so much, but here it is intolerable. I think that a lot of reviewers here have only seen the easier to find English version, which might explain the films low rating. "Laura" is a very classy erotic film, in it's original French language.