Director: François Ozon
Country of origin and year: France, 1996
Language: French
Subtitles: English (USA R1)
Bonus Features subtitled?: included in the bonus feature of "Regarde la Mer."

This short film (10 minutes) was paired with "Regarde la mer" on the same DVD, presumely to help the viewers to cheer up again after watching such a weird film. "A Summer Dress" takes us to two gay young men sharing a holiday together on the coast. Frédéric is sitting on the chair trying to catch some tan, when his friend, Sébastien, dances in public, singing a song from the radio. Obviously, we can see that Sébastien is nothing but a handsome, bleach-blonde guy who is not afraid of his homosexuality. Frédéric, on the other hand, is embarassed about his friend's public singing, and decides to ride away on his bike to the beach.

At the beach, Frédéric finds himself all alone, thus he takes all of his clothes off and goes for a dip in the sea. He comes back and sunbathes himself in the buff. A bit later, a woman comes along and askes Frédéric for a light for her cigarette. Frédéric feels a bit conscious about himself being nude, yet Lucia nudges him along to the woods where they make love together. Afterwards, they return to the spot where Frédéric left his clothes, only that his clothes aren't there anymore. Not wanting to return back to the cabin without any clothes, Lucia lends Frédéric her summer dress. It is a funny sight, and upon arrival at the cabin, we see Sébastien being excited to see his friend in a dress. They engage in lovemaking together.

The next morning, Frédéric goes out to the ferry to make good on his deal to return the summer dress, yet Lucia insists that he keep the dress in case he needs it again. It seems like the summer dress has become a humourous representation of Frédéric "coming out" and being more open about himself. I definitely recommend this film for anyone as it is a very light and funny film.