7 films for your 20s summer film night

Dear audience,

Are you one of those people who like to wind down summer evenings with an entertaining film? If that is the case, but you still need a few recommendations, I'm here for you. So get yourself a chilled drink and a few treats ready and let the film evening begin!

The Immigrant (2013)

The sisters Ewa and Magda, who want to emigrate from war-torn Poland to the USA, are separated from each other as soon as they arrive in New York. Magda has to go into quarantine indefinitely due to her lung condition. Ewa (Marion Cotillard) tries to raise money to ‘buy’ her sister's freedom and finds a job as a showgirl in the vaudeville theatre of the shady Bruno (Joaquin Phoenix). Events come to a head when Bruno forces the desperate Ewa into prostitution, she is caught by the police and almost deported before she can free her sister, and finally a murder is committed. A thrilling melodrama with a serious background, impressive images and great actors!

Radium Girls (2018)

This historically inspired film revolves around a group of female workers who paint watch dials with radioactive luminous paint at the American Radium company. When more and more women start falling ill due to strange symptoms and American Radium refuses to take them seriously, young Bessie (Joey King) tries to find out whether there is a connection between the work with the radium paint and the women's poor health. Her research uncovers a scandal that ultimately leads to the courtroom. Although Radium Girls received mixed critiques, as a viewer you get a good impression of the often difficult lives of young female workers and how helpless you are as an individual in the face of large companies that literally walk over dead bodies in their greed for profit.

De-lovely (2004)

This biopic is about the famous composer Cole Porter, who shaped the 20s and 30s musically like no other. For this reason, the film is also a musical, featuring guest appearances by Robbie Williams, Alanis Morisette, Mick Hucknall, Sheryl Crow and others. The plot shows Cole Porter (Kevin Kline) reviewing his entire life shortly before his death: his years in Paris as a pianist at parties, how he met his wife Linda (Ashley Judd) and gradually became a star of Broadway and film. Anyone who loves musicals and the songs of Cole Porter will not be disappointed here. I found some of the musical numbers too long and the somewhat clichéd scenes of the ageing composer looking back on his life as an audience member in a theatre kept taking me out of the story. Nevertheless, there are many beautiful moments in De-lovely and as a tribute to the great Cole Porter it is definitely recommended.

Wicked Little Letters (2023)

In the early 1920s, the quiet town of Littlehampton in England is shaken up by a series of anonymously written obscene letters. The victim of these offensive messages is the pious Edith Swan (brilliantly played by Olivia Coleman), a single woman who lives with her parents and suffers particularly under her restrictive father (Timothy Spall). In the search for a culprit, Edith's neighbour Rose Gooding (Jessie Buckley) is eventually arrested. Known for her hot temper and loose mouth, she seems an obvious candidate. There had also been a heated argument between her and Edith, who had previously been friends. However, when Rose continues to maintain her innocence and other inconsistencies come to light, a policewoman sets out to uncover the secret of the letters, with surprising results. Wicked Little Letters is a bizarre, bitterly vicious comedy that is remarkably based on a true case!

The Glory of Life (2024)

To mark the 100th anniversary of Franz Kafka's death, this film was made to shed light on the last year of the writer's life. As in Michael Kumpfmüller's novel of the same name, we follow Franz Kafka (Sabin Tambrea) as he meets and falls in love with Dora Diamant (Henriette Confurius), 15 years his junior, in the seaside resort of Graal Müritz in 1923 and moves into a flat with her in Berlin after the summer. Despite his advancing serious illness and their financial hardship, the two spend happy months together. You can find out more about the story in my article Kafka's Last Love.

The Glory of Life is a successful film adaptation of Kumpfmüller's novel, which impresses with its melancholy and extremely beautiful images. The portrayal of the couple Kafka/Diamant is shown very sensitively and never slips into kitsch, despite the dramatic circumstances of their lives. A real recommendation!

Vita and Virginia (2018)

Vita and Virginia is a film about the writers Vita Sackville-West and Virginia Woolf. In Chanya Button's literary drama, Vita (Gemma Arterton) appears as a modern, emancipated and self-confident woman of the world, always dressed in the latest fashion and never at a loss for a bon mot, while Virginia (Elizabeth Debicki) seems to embody the exact opposite with her insecurities and self-doubt. The two women find each other despite, or perhaps because of, these differences and begin a romantic relationship. Although it doesn't last, it inspires Virginia to write one of her most famous works: Orlando. If you like literature, exquisite 20s fashion and strong women, you will definitely enjoy Vita and Virginia!

Magic in the Moonlight (2014)

Woody Allen is known to be a fan of the 1920s, so it's no surprise that after his success with Midnight in Paris in 2012, the next film set in his favourite decade followed two years later. Magic in the Moonlight is about stage magician Stanley Crawford (Colin Firth), who is asked by a colleague to take a closer look at self-proclaimed medium Sophie (Emma Stone) in the south of France, who allegedly has contact with the deceased. The cynical Stanley is immediately certain that he is dealing with a fraud who is only interested in the money of the family she is visiting. However, all attempts to expose Sophie fail, so Stanley begins to question all his previous ideas. When the grumpy loner also falls in love with the medium, the chaos is perfect. Not Woody Allen's greatest cinema hit, but in my opinion an entertaining and amusing screwball comedy that is perfect for mild summer evenings!

Ladies and gentlemen,

I hope you have enjoyed this small but fine selection for your evening film pleasure! I wish you good entertainment!

Yours, Marleen Tigersee