Five Days One Summer

Psychological melodrama goes a bit far combining the story of a complex and dubious love relationship with the thrills of dangerous mountaineering, but is mildly entertaining, if you can bear it.

I'm one of those who think this film is a neglected gem.

It has a number of twists but it is the interaction between the three leads that makes it so compelling. Without giving too much away, the story, which is set in 1932, is about a couple, Douglas Meredith (Sean Connery) and the much younger Kate Meredith (Betsy Brantley) who arrive at a Swiss chalet during the summer for some hiking and a little mountain climbing.

As the story unfolds we realise that although they introduce themselves as husband and wife, there is something difficult about the relationship. The whole thing comes to a head and decisions are forced when Kate attracts the attention of a young climbing guide played by Lambert Wilson.

This was Fred Zinneman's last film, but it has a different mood and pace than many of his films. It unfolds at not so much a leisured pace but a measured one, and there is plenty of tension throughout the story. It seems very much like a Merchant Ivory production. If you have seen films such as "Heat and Dust", "Howard's End" or "Remains of the Day", you'll know what I mean - although it was made a few years before any of those.

Apparently the film bombed when it was first released and the critics were less than impressed. Possibly that was partly because it was an unexpected entry from the man who had helmed films such as "From Here to Eternity", "High Noon" and "The Day of the Jackal", but I think they may also have been put off by the revelation about the Meredith's relationship.

Sean Connery plays a man with much on his mind with no small amount of guilt thrown in. He handles it with the same understatement that underpins the film. Surprisingly, Connery's natural power comes through more noticeably here than in many of his action roles.

With her rather unflattering 1930's fashions and bobbed hairstyle, Betsy Brantley at first seems unprepossessing as Kate but her openness and freshness soon makes believable the attention she receives from the males in the movie.

If you're tastes run to "Fast and Furious 4" then this probably isn't your movie, but if you are looking for a beautifully acted and photographed story with a touch of intrigue told in an unhurried manner, "Five Days in Summer" is worth seeking out.

This is a very fine movie. Maltin really misses it with his review. Fine acting by all of the major players. As at least one other reviewer pointed out, this is a finely crafted, minimalist production as far as the character dialogue. Zinnemann did a superb job of direction. The alpine scenes are exquisitely beautiful. The mountain climbing is realistically of the period (1932) and I found it to be completely engrossing.

The film is a morality play about the nature and reality of boundaries. And what type of tragedy can happen when one ignores boundaries. Beautifully done film. If you like real stories about real people you should love this film. If you're a special effects type of guy you might want to ignore it. Still, the cinemaphotography and mountain climbing scenes are worth a look--even for the most jaded modernist.

A cinemagraphic masterpiece where all the relationships and tensions developed by the story (a tale of irrepressible love fulfilled, thwarted and betrayed) are conveyed in the exquisitely rendered images carrying the communications that you read as if they were a text; and with the verbal dialogue reduced to the barest minimum required.

Five Days One Summer (1982)

Plot In A Paragraph: A middle aged Scottish doctor (Connery) and a younger woman (Betsy Brantley) go on a climbing holiday in the Swiss alps, when their Swiss tour guide takes a liking to the woman.

Director Fred Zinnemann's movie deserves to be much better known than it is. It is beautifully shot, has great locations and is well acted. I think I know why audiences stayed away like they did.

It seemed at first that the couple were father and daughter, then it seemed as if they were on their honeymoon (as the doctor was introducing the young woman as his wife) finally, it was revealed they wear in fact uncle and niece, and they were having an incestuous affair. Not your usual love story. And it plays like a big television drama, lots of unnecessary flashbacks and a very melodramatic ending, and there isn't really a lot of dialogue either!! Long periods of time go by without a line of dialogue being spoken.

Another Connery movie I paid a lot of money to buy on DVD, however this one is worth watching (unlike a few of the others I purchased without seeing) a perfectly fine lazy Sunday afternoon movie.

Budgeted at $15 million, Five Days One Summer grossed under $200,000 at the domestic box office. Zimmerman was so upset by the movies failure and the awful reviews, that he never directed another movie again.