Summer with Monika

An international breakthrough for its spontaneity, emotional power, and frank treatment of sensuality, Summer with Monika was one of the primary inspirations for the group of directors and film critics who founded the French New Wave. A boy and a girl run away from parents and responsibilities to spend the summer together on a secluded island before reality inevitably encroaches. As fine a portrait of first love and young passion as has ever been filmed, the film features a stunning performance by Harriet Andersson, who sears with what critic Peter Cowie called “eroticism incarnate.” (97 mins., 35mm)