When Winter rolls around, you keep warm with schmaltzy movies. In Summertime, you usually watch the biggest blockbusters. If those seasons can have films, why can’t Spring?
The time of rebirth and renewal, it turns out, does have many films that capture the season perfectly: the blooming nature and blossoming romances; the ritual holidays and the school dances.
As today, September 1st, is officially the first day of Spring in Australia, we thought we’d make a list of five of the best Spring films to help you mark the occasion!
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Spring Breakers
Spring Break, woohoo! A rite of passage, particularly for teenagers in the U.S., it’s the springtime holiday that usually descends into drunken carnage. Controversial director Harmony Karine, though, sees the occasion differently. His film follows four college girls (former Disney kids Vanessa Hudgens and Selena Gomez amongst others) as they fall into a world of drugs and crime in Florida after meeting a local drug dealer (James Franco, acting loud and ludicrous). The film has since become a cult classic and comes with a deeper reflection on the modern world’s obsession with social media. Just don’t watch it right before you go on holiday.
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Late Spring
One of the finest films by the Japanese master Yasujirō Ozu. Late Spring is the first entry in his Noriko Trilogy (followed by Early Summer and Tokyo Story), it’s a powerful character study of a young woman who makes the profound decision to care for her ageing father instead of getting married. Although the black & white understandably dulls the blooming springtime palette, Ozu’s immense filmmaking style and the tender portrayal of postwar Japan make this a classic.
10 Things I Hate About You
Iconic. Just iconic. If they ever made a time capsule of the 90’s for future civilisations to discover, 10 Things I Hate About You should have been in it. Julia Stiles and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. HEATH LEDGER. A modern retelling of William Shakespeare’s play The Taming of the Shrew, the film is both a classic in the teen and rom-com genres. With a prom, spring sports, and angsty romance, you’ll almost wish you were back at high school.
Notting Hill
One of the films that made everyone want to move to London in the 90’s, this film was so popular that Notting Hill tours now exist in the city. Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts were irresistible as the cute bookstore owner and famous movie star falling for each other in London. And let’s be honest, it basically always feels like spring in England’s capital, with that soggy weather.
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
Another teen classic, the 1986 comedy is also one of the best comedies of all time. Matthew Broderick is iconic as Ferris Bueller, a high school slacker in Chicago who fancies spending the nice Spring day out in the world rather than in a dull classroom. Accompanied by his girlfriend and best mate, they try and squeeze as much fun into one day, including borrowing a Ferrari and eating out at a fancy restaurant. “Life goes by so fast that if you don’t stop and look around, you might miss it.” Wise words, Ferris.
