Denis Coté – That Kind of Summer #Berlinale2022

PODCAST | Chiara Nicoletti interviews Denis Coté, director of the film That Kind of Summer.

When he noticed that sex, sexuality and nudity were missing from french-canadian cinema, Denis Coté decided it as about time to discuss this topic through a film. And so he directed That Kind of Summer, film in competition at the 72nd Berlinale, where he explored the many nuances of women sexuality with the story of three women going to a rest home to “cure” their sexual issues. Coté’s look is never judgmental and tries to be as delicate and impartial as possible. To try and have a more truthful film, Coté surrounded himself with women, including his editor and co-writer so to avoid looking at things in a way a “white straight male with privileges” would.

That Kind of Summer : Three hypersexual women are spending 26 days in a quiet house by the lake. They are: Léonie (serious), Eugénie (impulsive) and Gaëlle aka Geisha (flirtatious). All three are here voluntarily. They are being supervised by a social worker and, less closely, by a therapist. The motto of the undertaking: “hypersexuality is not a disease”. The aim of this experiment is not to heal but rather to enable a frank exploration of different experiences, forms and extremes of desire. It all takes place half-naked and fully clothed, verbally and physically, and in imagination and reality. The fact that the project staff are, if not affected, at least a little moved, is hardly surprising and corresponds to the viewer’s situation. Unlike any other proponent of contemporary cinema, Denis Côté succeeds in creating dynamic cinematic spaces (sets, settings, constellations) in which experiences (psychological, physical, intellectual) may be seen as a game and, precisely because of this, can be used to pursue reality. Sometimes at a discreet distance, at others transgressively close, the camera swirls around the protagonists in this dance of trauma and lust. Norms are deconstructed, the present becomes tangible and the future conceivable. Cinema is – vibration.

To discover more about the 72° edition of Berlin International Film Festival, click here.