That Summer

A prequel of sorts to the cult-classic documentary Grey Gardens, That Summer centres on Peter Beard’s attempt to make a documentary in the summer of 1972 with Lee Radziwill, the sister of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, which would have explored their childhood and the history of East Hampton, New York.

Beard, an artist and photographer, reminisces throughout about the ill-fated project as That Summer introduces the protagonists of Grey Gardens: socialite Big Edie Beale, an aunt of Jacqueline Kennedy, and her daughter, Little Edie. They are not the sole focus, however, as the film also offers intimate, perception-shattering portraits of Truman Capote, Andy Warhol, Aristotle Onassis, and Beard himself.

That Summer also functions as a postcard from the Hamptons of the past, using archival film and photographs. Much of the source material comes from Beard’s own collection, with the eccentricities of the ultra-wealthy on full display, particularly those of the Beales.