If you’re even vaguely a fan the iconic Grey Gardens, Göran Hugo Olsson’s new documentary That Summer is essential viewing. If you haven’t seen the Maysles brothers’ masterpiece (why not?) this is probably not for you, but it is, in any case, an absolute gem of 70s archive film.

The story starts out with a narrated intro from legendary photographer Peter Beard, keen to show off his work and name-drop all his famous friends. Lee Radziwill (sister of Jackie Kennedy Onassis) also gets her voice in over some lovely archive footage of Andy Warhol, Bianca Jagger, Paul Morrisey and Joe Dallesandro enjoying the East Hamptons beaches. But ultimately this is merely setting the scene for the real treat: four reels of nearly uninterrupted footage from the Grey Gardens mansion that makes for the bulk of this film.

In the summer of 1972, Lee Radziwill visited her secluded aunt and cousin at the crumbling Grey Gardens mansion with a team of plumbers and electricians to help them keep the place habitable and avoid family scandal. It’s mentioned more than once that Ari Onassis is paying for everything as the Beales struggle along without the most basic of modern conveniences. The house is in a real state, so overgrown and full of cats and racoons that we’re surprised it can still stand up. For some reason, the Maysles brothers (shortly after their success directing the great concert film Gimme Shelter) were invited along to film all this. As a result, they thankfully returned three years later for their more famous film.

A quick disclaimer here: I’m a film archivist myself. For me, there is no bigger treat than access to the kind of raw historical material that this film gives us at length, almost uninterrupted. The sublime Grey Gardens has sometimes been criticized for its voyeurism, for taking advantage of or exploiting its subjects, but for me the Maysles’ great strength as filmmakers is that they let their subjects speak for themselves. Little Edie is as sassy as ever while her mother Big Edie seems slightly sharper than she would later. The four reels of film here, interrupted only by a few stills, are a real historical treasure that most filmmakers can only dream of unearthing.

The reasons for this footage remaining buried for so many years are fuzzy, but it’s here now, and it’s stunning. As a long-time fan of the Beales of Grey Gardens (and the other characters featured here) this exquisite documentary was a treat from start to end.

That Summer is in cinemas now and available to stream online.

 

Review by Matt Harris