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List Price: $29.99 | | Label: Zeitgeist Films
Salesrank: 56635
Released: May 27, 2003 |
| Our Price: $17.68 |
| Used Price: $12.06 |
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MPAA Rating: Unrated
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
French filmmaking sensation Olivier Assayas' follow-up to his much-loved IRMA VEP centers on a cadre of thirty-something Parisians coming to grips with romantic uncertainty, professional upheaval and the looming spectre of their own mortality. Starring KINGS AND QUEEN's Mathieu Amalric, 8 WOMEN's Virginie Ledoyen and VA SAVOIR's Jeanne Balibar, LATE AUGUST, EARLY SEPTEMBER also boasts a stellar soundtrack featuring Ali Farka Touré and Assayas regulars Sonic Youth.
Description of Late August, Early September:
The sublime Late August, Early September, a story of a quartet of Parisian adults (young and not so young) grappling with love, indecision, and crises of confidence, is not titled for a time of year but for a feeling, a tone, and a sense of passage. Self-conscious, shy writer Mathieu Amalric (My Sex Life...) is fast approaching 30 and furiously second guessing every step he makes. He's broken it off with delightfully gawky yet graceful Jeanne Balibar and is in the midst of an affair with the wild Virginie Ledoyen (The Beach), a sexy, young, sweet-and-sour girl with the temper of a diva. Francois Cluzet (Round Midnight), a cult author with a teenage girlfriend, is the old man of the bunch and an uncomfortable mentor to Amalric.
Shooting with a restless camera that bobs around searching for a better look, and fading out of scenes before they end, as if life continues on past our privileged peek, Olivier Assayas (Irma Vep) has an unusual and unique style. It's like he catches his characters off guard, capturing moments of hesitation and discomfort, when the social front can't quite hide their fears and frustrations. All the better to appreciate their little triumphs. Not much really "happens" in the drama, but the quirky Assayas beautifully captures a portrait in messy emotions, inarticulation, and contradiction with modesty and sympathy. --Sean Axmaker
Late August, Early September Reviews:
September song . . . 
2009-07-06 - Unlike Ozu films that are named after the time of year in which they are set, this absorbing film by French director Olivier Assayas refers more to a time of life and the feelings that accompany the awareness that one's youth is over and one's aspirations have remained unfulfilled. The title's reference to a cusp between seasons also reflects the film's interest in "in-betweenness." Characters are in between relationships, in between commitments, in between an unsettled present and an undetermined future.
The plot of the story (if it can be said to have one) is apparent mostly in retrospect, as the death of one of the characters has an impact on the lives of friends and associates. But it's not plot you enjoy in this film. Instead it's the often self-absorbed characters, on whom life's lessons are gradually dawning - we don't always get what we want, and we're not good at anticipating what will make us happy. Attempts to get our lives in order rarely pan out. Relationships to those closest to us are often conflicted by competing desires - or the dying of desire itself. In a way, the film is high-class soap opera, but as it unfolds, it manages to articulate its share of truths. Great cast and believable performances appropriately captured in a kinetic style of cinematography and editing. The DVD includes a brief interview with the director.
Slow evolving character development 
2004-02-20 - This is your typical slow evolving character development film that tries to capture a slice of life. More down trodden than up lifting and not really reflective of my life or anybody elses that I know which is typical of most French Films.
Life as it is 
2003-08-30 - "Late August, Early September" depicts life as it is for two struggling writers trying to proclaim a space in modern literary world while meeting everyday chores of life and relationship. The movie has its own pace of revealing its characters and their interactions from an observatory angle. It also examines one very sensitive, tender yet socially uncomfortable relationship between a teen and a mature writer who just found himself questioning his achievement in his career at forty.
Intriguing and identifiable characters
2000-07-12 - Some will say french melodramas are too understated and long winded but i found myself thoroughly enjoying this character-driven gem. Editing is reminescent of Godard with its jump-cut scene transitions and non-static camera movements. If you like slow character-evolving films without the overt freudian-analysis and preaching, go check out the film at a rental before purchasing.
The Best French Film of the Year
2000-04-30 - Late August, Early September is a gem. If you like Rohmer, but need more 'character complexity', this film will satisfy your need for intellectual stimulation, poignancy, and reality.
This film is to cinema what Kundera is to literature.
