Disembodied voices float on top of sharp, mostly black and white cinematography, showing scenes of daily life in a small village on the edge of a forest. It’s never made clear who is speaking, or who is meant to be listening, but these random snatches of speech contribute to the vivaciousness and universality of the film’s perspective. That they are heard throughout a film in which we are also watching dogs, cows, bees or other non-human animals alone within the frame, contributes to the horizontality of all the living beings within the film.
As the third highly accomplished, cinematically rich and sonically dense short film made by Payal Kapadia within the span of four years, And What is the Summer Saying provides further evidence of the trademark themes and aesthetic techniques across her work as a whole. In addition to the colourful sonic palette, we see the recurring images of darkness and nighttime; the familiar spaces—or sometimes evocations of—deep forest and quiet village; the visual and symbolic resonance of clouds, fog or smoke; the reflexivity of memory and the vitality of its sensory impulses; and the mixed textures of live cinematography and drawn, painted or otherwise constructed images.
Rather than becoming rote or predictable, Payal Kapadia’s use of these trademarks across her films is significantly diverse in form, style and expression, and as such point to the strength and versatility of her filmmaking. And What is the Summer Saying beautifully caps this informal trilogy, which should be seen as the first major cinematic statement—with many more to come—by the young and talented filmmaker Payal Kapadia. —Herb Shellenberger
