Summerhood (Jacob Medjuck, 2007): Canada

What more can I say than “I want to own this dvd!” Jacob Medjuck, director of “Summerhood” welcomes you, at your own risk, to the world of camp. Excuse me – to a boy’s world of camp – where anything and everything out of the ordinary is bound to happen.

This is the only film at the festival I made a point to see a second time. It was showing for the last time at the Center Stage Theaters in Paseo Nuevo Shopping Center and I put extra effort towards getting there early to make sure I had a good seat.

Fetus (played by Lucian Maisel), a little younger than the rest, joins his best friends Reckless and Toast as they try to live out their dreams at camp by becoming a ‘legend’ and crossing the bridge onto senior’s soil. Although many unlucky kids had tried and failed miserably years before, they, despite their odds are continuously devising a plan of attack. Things start to change however, when the girls’ bus arrives. Fetus falls hopelessly in love with his pen pal Sundae and the rest his history. In one shot, he camera zooms in as you see the bus door open and a little pink converse shoe step out. Fetus stares in awe at the love of his life, as “(I Just) Died in Your Arms” by Cutting Crew plays loudly in the background and the audience starts to giggle.

The rest of the film is filled with unpredictable teenage comedy, not unlike that of “Superbad”. Fetus is forced to choose between his love for Sundae and his friendship with the boys and he struggles through each decision he makes that year at camp. Every character in the film is absolutely hilarious. The costumes and the music struck me as nothing less than perfection. The outfits they wore were brilliant and fit each boy’s character unbelievably well, due to each of their individual circumstances. The soundtrack was filled with 80’s classics and made the scenes overly dramatic in a clever and very funny way. Besides that, I felt that the whole mise-en-scene was amazing. The cabins were lined with bunk beds as the walls were covered in writing, much like a public bathroom stall. Clothes were thrown everywhere and it created a world of chaos.

John Cusack was also a surprising addition to the film. He lent his voice as Fetus years later looking back on the best days of his life. Although you never physically see him in the film, he is very much apart of it, bringing about a sense of warmth and familiarity.

The story is adorable and an absolute must-see. I can almost guarantee someone will back this film in distribution, so when it happens, make sure to see it in the theaters or grab the dvd in a local Blockbusters or Hollywood Video.