Summer of Sam Totally Explained

Everything about Summer Of Sam totally explained

Summer of Sam is a 1999 crime-drama-romance-thriller film about the Son of Sam serial murders. It was directed and produced by Spike Lee.

Plot

Summer of Sam is the story of a group of people in New York City (particularly the Throgs Neck/Country Club section of The Bronx) in the summer of 1977, a time in which the headlines were dominated by the Son of Sam serial killer case.
While the Son of Sam is terrorizing New York City, fear-driven residents of a tight-knit Italian American neighborhood begin to suspect anyone who doesn't fit in with the crowd. The movie focuses on a pair of young couples. John Leguizamo plays Vincent, an unfaithful hairdresser married to Dionna (played by Mira Sorvino), a hard-working waitress. Adrien Brody plays Ritchie, one of Vincent's closest friends and a newly-turned punk who dates a woman named Ruby (Jennifer Esposito); Ritchie leads a secret life dancing, and selling himself for sex, at a gay club.
Slowly, the locals begin to turn their suspicions on Ritchie. They have no real reason; his flamboyant and strange lifestyle simply gets their attention.

Cast

John Leguizamo as Vinny
Adrien Brody as Richie
Mira Sorvino as Donna
Jennifer Esposito as Ruby
Michael Rispoli as Joey T
Bebe Neuwirth as Gloria
Patti LuPone as Helen
Mike Starr as Eddie
Anthony LaPaglia as Det. Lou Petrocelli
Ben Gazzara as Luigi
Michael Badalucco as Son of Sam
Spike Lee as John Jeffries
Michael Imperioli as Midnite
John Turturro as Harvey the Black Dog (voice)
Idina Menzel (deleted scenes) as Richie's girlfriend
Keith Jackson (uncredited archive footage) as Himself - 1977 World Series Announcer
Willie Mays (uncredited archive footage) as Himself - 1954 New York Giants Outfielder Making Great Catch in World Series
Elvis Presley (uncredited archive footage) as Himself

Trivia

After they're refused entry into Studio 54, the sex scene between Dionna (Mira Sorvino) and Vinny (John Leguizamo) included more explicit shots in the original cut. This scene was edited a bit after the MPAA threatened the film with an "NC-17" rating.

The credits are in the form of newspaper headlines.

Leonardo DiCaprio and Benicio del Toro were originally considered for the lead roles.

The word "fuck" is said 326 times in this 142-minute film, an average of 2.29 times per minute. See List of films that most frequently use the word "fuck".

Adrien Brody's nose was broken during the final climatic fight scene in which his character Richie is brutally beaten by his friends.

Idina Menzel is known to have been in the film as Richie's girlfriend, but her scenes were cut before final release.

Although they're only meant as a backdrop to the film, the murders appear to happen sequentially in the space of the film, when in fact the first couple of the murders in the film happened a lot earlier in 1977 than the film is set.

Themes

The film investigates scapegoating, intolerance, xenophobia, and the tendency to identify misfits within a community with evil that falls upon it. Lee uses references to The Who to point out Richie's outsider status. (As most of the residence of the neighboorhood prefer disco music.), and the band's music to provoke violent images through collages within the film.
The film has some interesting scenes set in the punk rock club CBGB portraying what it would have been like there in 1977. In a slight glitch, the spiked-up and Mohawk haircuts sported by Richie probably wouldn't have been seen on punk rockers in 1977. These hairstyles became commonplace from about 1980 onwards but have obviously been added to emphasize Richie's punk rocker character.
A great deal of time in the film is dedicated to Vinny's problems with premature ejaculation.

Filming locations

The film was largely shot and set in the Italian-American neighborhoods of Country Club, Morris Park, and Throgs Neck sections of the Bronx which David Berkowitz terrorized in 1977, with some scenes filmed in Brownsville, Brooklyn. Specifically, Marie's Beauty Lounge, the salon where Vincent works, is a real, still active salon located on Morris Park Avenue, between Williamsbridge Road and Bronxdale Avenue. Most of Berkowitz' killings actually took place in Queens.

Further Information

Get more info on 'Summer Of Sam'.

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