Performed by non-professional actors and actresses, wrapped in an authentic romantic playfulness, the work features a title reminiscent of Ozu, plucks the chords of Rohmerian lightness and dialogues with a Marivaux-style comedy of sentiment
Only on a cinema screen under the branches of an orchard can the emotion and passion of love vibrate. The fruit of late summerdirected by French-Tunisian director Erige Sehiri, the opening film of the 32nd film festival African, Asian and Latin American from Milan, is a jewel of fascinating cut and precious workmanship. Low-budget production and a strong directorial idea in its simple and very precise staging: the very close, almost epidermal, frontal and close-up shots, touching leaves and branches, of a large group of workers, especially women, picking figs late summer morning.
There is a Caporalino, but he has awkward movements and rolls his eyes at Fidé (Fide Fdhli). Fidé’s sister Melek (Feten Fdhli) trembles with delight at the return of the very young Abdou from a coastal town. Instead, Sana (Ameni Fdhili) becomes obsessed with the older Firas and fantasizes about him as a manly man who asks him to be a little more traditionalist than the others, even if he then nibbles some figs and ends up in an argument with the corporal who wins. I don’t pay him. In short, The Fruit of Late Summer is a straight-eyed film in which Sehiri observes and admires female sensuality, girls’ never-vulgar yearning for new livelihoods, and the determined and proud slip of a generational independence with class (there are many darker ones and less lively ladies working under the orchard). Played by non-professional actresses and actorsWrapped in an authentic romantic playfulness, Sehiri’s film holds a title reminiscent of Ozu, pulls on the strings of Rohmerian hilarity and dialogues with Marivaux-style emotional comedy. Not to be missed, also because the director films and filters natural light, making it a poetic and almost fabulous texture.