First Love, Last Rites

In a small fishing village in Louisiana, a universal drama unfolds: the rise and fall of a first idyllic love. Joey (Giovanni Ribisi) and Sissy (Natasha Gregson Wagner) share a room. In the neverending sultry Louisiana summer, they make love, talk about romance and go in search of each other’s identity. Sissy is alienated from her divorced parents, but does want Joey to meet Henry, her father. Henry turns out to be a talkative Vietnam veteran with a fascination for Oriental culture. He asks Joey all kinds of awkward questions. Nevertheless, the two set out to catch eels together. Sissy’s little brother, even more a victim of his parents’ divorce than his sister, hangs around their room a lot, much to the dismay of the two young lovers. When they want to get rid of him, they get undressed and make love. But then the excitement of the first love starts to ebb. What remains is boredom, frustration, work and indifference.The short story by Ian McEwan on which Peretz based his film, was moved from a British industrial town and port to muggy Louisiana. Helped by cameraman Tom Richmond (Little Odessa, Mother Night) and rising stars Ribisi and Wagner, Peretz manages to evoke a mood in which desire and alienation are very close together.