- Summer of Sam
Infobox Film
name = Summer of Sam
caption = Theatrical release poster
director =Spike Lee
producer =Spike Lee Michael Imperioli Victor Colicchio
writer =Spike Lee Victor Colicchio &Michael Imperioli
starring =John Leguizamo Adrien Brody Mira Sorvino Jennifer Esposito
music =Terence Blanchard
cinematography =Ellen Kuras
distributor =Touchstone Pictures
released =July 2 , 1999
runtime = 142 min.
country = flagicon|USA
language = English
Italian
budget = $22 million
gross = $19,288,130
imdb_id = 0162677"Summer of Sam" is a 1999 crime-drama-romance-
thriller film based around theSon of Sam serial murders. It was directed and produced bySpike Lee .Plot
"Summer of Sam" is the story of a group of people in
New York City (particularly theThrogs Neck /Country Club section ofThe Bronx ) in thesummer of1977 , a time when the headlines were dominated by the Son of Samserial killer case.While the Son of Sam is terrorizing New York City, fear-driven residents of a tight-knit
Italian-American neighborhood begin to suspect anyone who doesn't fit in with the crowd. The movie focuses on a pair of young couples:John Leguizamo plays Vincent, an unfaithful hairdresser married to Dionna (played byMira Sorvino ), a hard-working waitress; andAdrien Brody as Ritchie, one of Vincent's closest friends and a newly-turned punk who dates a woman named Ruby (Jennifer Esposito ); Ritchie leads a secret life dancing, and selling himself for sex, at agay club.Slowly, the locals begin to turn their suspicions on Ritchie. They have no real reason; his flamboyant and strange lifestyle simply gets their attention.
Cast
*
John Leguizamo as Vinny
*Adrien Brody as Richie
*Mira Sorvino as Donna
*Jennifer Esposito as Ruby
*Michael Rispoli as Joey T.
*Bebe Neuwirth as Gloria
*Patti LuPone as Helen
*Mike Starr as Eddie
*Anthony LaPaglia as Det. Lou Petrocelli
*Ben Gazzara as Luigi
*Michael Badalucco as Son of Sam
*Spike Lee as John Jeffries
*Michael Imperioli as Midnite
*Kim Director as Dee
*John Turturro as Harvey the Black Dog (voice)Trivia
* After they are refused entry into
Studio 54 , the sex scene between Donna and Vinny included more explicit shots in the original cut. This scene was edited a bit after the MPAA threatened the film with an "NC-17" rating.Fact|date=September 2008
* The version of the film that routinely airs on television omits footage related to the subplot regarding Richie (Adrien Brody)'s homosexuality and prostitution of himself for money.
* The credits are in the form of newspaper headlines.
*Leonardo DiCaprio andBenicio del Toro were originally considered for the lead roles.Fact|date=September 2008
* The word "fuck" is said 315 times in this 142-minute film, an average of 2.22 times per minute. SeeList of films that most frequently use the word "fuck" .
* Adrien Brody's nose was broken during the final climatic fight scene in which his character Richie is brutally beaten by his friends.Fact|date=September 2008
*Idina Menzel is known to have been in the film as Richie's girlfriend, but her scenes were cut before final release.Fact|date=September 2008
* Although they are only meant as a backdrop to the film, the murders appear to happen sequentially in the space of the film, when in fact the first couple of the murders in the film happened a lot earlier in 1977 than the film is set.Themes
The film uses the murders as a backdrop to investigate scapegoating, intolerance,
xenophobia , and the tendency to identify misfits within a community with evil that falls upon it. Lee uses references toThe Who andpunk rock to point out Richie's outsider status. (As most of the residents of the neighborhood preferdisco music ), and the band's music to provoke violent images through collages within the film.A great deal of time in the film is dedicated to Vinny's problems with
premature ejaculation .Filming locations
The film was largely shot during the summer of 1998 and set in the Italian-American neighborhoods of Country Club,
Morris Park , andThrogs Neck sections of the Bronx whichDavid Berkowitz terrorized in1977 , with some scenes filmed inBrownsville, Brooklyn . Specifically, Marie's Beauty Lounge, the salon where Vincent works, is a real, still active salon located on Morris Park Avenue, between Williamsbridge Road and Bronxdale Avenue. Most of Berkowitz' killings actually took place in Queens.The real CBGB's was used, however the band playing on stage,L.E.S. Stitches , is a contemporary punk band.External links
*
*
*
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.