My Summer of Love (2004) (UK)

[hengcs]

Director: Pawel Pawlikowski
Cast: Nathalie Press, Emily Blunt, Paddy Considine


The official website is here
http://www.mysummeroflove.co.uk

At the British Academy Film Awards 2005, the film was awarded Outstanding British Film of the Year
see
http://www.bafta.org/film/announce.htm


What I like?
-- The film (esp. its message) is not as simple as it seems, and is rather complex and open to different interpretations! At the end of the movie, I believe different audience will walk away with a different understanding of what the film is trying to convey or what the ending means …
;)
Yet, this possibility of multiple interpretations may cause audience to dismiss it simply as a story about two girls in love (or are they really in love?!). Worse of all, a few may even construe it as a mockery of religion (but is it really?!).

On a deeper thought,
e.g., the film can be about coming of age, or loss and discovery
e.g., it can be about patriarchy at different level (God, father, and brother)
e.g., it can be about control versus freedom (at the physical, mental and spiritual levels), or power versus helplessness
e.g., it can be about religion
e.g., it can be about good versus evil
e.g., it can even be about reality/truth versus fantasy/imaginations/lies/ beliefs … etc

-- Oh yes, I like the main theme song too … the one with the whistling … wow …
I believe it is La Foule by Edith Piaf.
-- Also, I like the dry sense of humor in the movie
… well, what can I say …
-- One of the best scenes:
… the scene where the female protagonist impersonates “evil” …
… you will not forget that scene … *evil grin*


Conclusion:
I actually recommend the film … and would encourage interpretation of its message and ending!
;)

Once again, some people may dismiss it simply as a movie about lesbians or religion … but I would like to believe there is something more … am I crediting the film too much?! Hee hee

[arsaib4]

Originally posted by hengcs
What I like?
-- The film (esp. its message) is not as simple as it seems,

I agree.

I believe different audience will walk away with a different understanding of what the film is trying to convey or what the ending means …

I thought the ending was at once both simple and profound. Yet, there are limits to how it could be interpreted. This is a clever little film.

Worse of all, a few may even construe it as a mockery of religion (but is it really?!).

It's possible that a few may, but I certainly don't think it tries to "mock" religion. While Phil's part isn't very well written, he's as much a lost soul as the other two. He may have found religion, but he has lost his sister (and parts of himself) in the process. His transformation is a little sudden at the end but his inner turmoil couldn't be repressed anymore.

On a deeper thought,
e.g., the film can be about coming of age, or loss and discovery
e.g., it can be about patriarchy at different level (God, father, and brother)
e.g., it can be about control versus freedom (at the physical, mental and spiritual levels), or power versus helplessness
e.g., it can be about religion
e.g., it can be about good versus evil
e.g., it can even be about reality/truth versus fantasy/imaginations/lies/ beliefs … etc

Yup.

Conclusion:
I actually recommend the film … and would encourage interpretation of its message and ending!

What separates this film from others is that it consciously explores the social and class differences between the two. (Think about the way they first meet, and, of course, the final words spoken.)

[arsaib4]

In the opening scene of My Summer of Love, we witness a teenager, Mona (Nathalie Press), incessantly drawing on her rough-textured bedroom wall which in many ways resembles her own freckled skin (imagine a very young Sissy Spacek). We’re not exactly sure whose picture it is, but it’s probably not of her mother who's recently died but Mona treats it rather matter-of-factly, or her brother, Phil (Paddy Considine), an ex-con who has just gotten out of prison as a Christian evangelicalist, much to her chagrin. So, it is probably herself, a trapped soul in the reclusive and self-sufficient West Yorkshire town, which she perhaps serves up with the thick and square outer frame of the picture. Mona now lives with her brother who's in the process of turning their old pub into a plain prayer meeting spot for the locals, and he’s convinced that his sister is being gripped by the devil and she needs help.

Help for Mona arrives in a different shape, though. One afternoon, as she’s laying on grass by the roadside after being tired of pushing her motorless bike, she encounters a brunette beauty looking down on her. The charting of their socio-economic differences couldn’t be any more persuasive here. Surrounded by a timeless milieu, the scene resembles something which could’ve easily taken place a couple of centuries ago with a princess and a commoner. The well-cultured and intelligent brunette, Tamsin (Emily Blunt), who is, in fact, on a white horse may not be a princess but she certainly lives like one in a sprawling mansion. They introduce themselves while realizing how much they need each other in their lives. Needless to say, it doesn’t take very long for the two to become extremely close to each other. Tamsin informs Mona about her sister who has recently died while introducing her extravagant lifestyle and influences, including Nietzsche ("God is dead" she says, much to Mona’s delight), Freud, and French classical singer/icon Édith Piaf (who, according to Tamsin, committed a few crimes of passion).

My Summer of Love is the third feature directed by Pawel Pawlikowski, someone with a strong background as a documentarian. Born in Poland, but he has spent much of his life in the U.K. so it's surprising to see that there’s nothing remotely "British" about his filmmaking (although it could be said that his 2000 feature, Last Resort, had a Loachian authority to it). In My Summer of Love, Pawlikowski’s eye for the naturalistic settings is keen enough to remind a viewer of what a Terrence Malick land looks like. He’s a visual storyteller, no doubt about it, so instead of relying on narrative markers he swiftly changes the mood and tone with his framing devices while abstractly concentrating on, say, running water (near Mona’s favorite rock), or a Jesus' cross atop a hill (a project undertaken by Phil to cement his beliefs.) On the other hand, his evocative score done by Alison Goldstepp not only features Mozart and the mournfulness of the aforementioned Piaf, but also Asha Bhonsle, blithely crooning a 70’s style hippie number titled "Hare Rama Hare Krishna."

The film is a loose adaptation of Helen Cross’s novel which is said to be a denser piece. My Summer of Love is "light," but its lyricism is textured, while the impressionistic narrative only deepens the more one is willing to ponder it. It could be argued that Pawlikowski fails to bring a strong third angle to his tale which could’ve possibly helped thrust the tension on a couple of occasions. Although, he did stage a great sequence where one’s sexuality which is inherent goes up against another's beliefs which are acquired and it's no match. He has certainly gotten strong performances from the entire cast. Considine’s Phil is underwritten but he brings a strong emotional front; thankfully the director doesn’t use him as a cop-out in anyway. Nathalie Press possesses a right amount of vulnerability and toughness for her role. But the breakout performance here comes from Emily Blunt. Her cat-like sensuality and cunningness is at once subtle and it serves its proper purpose once the role playing starts. However, Pawlikowski isn’t a Neil LaBute-type, so he avoids the narcissism and doesn’t try to go down the path which these kind of films usually end up taking, and ultimately makes the right decision: the power is shared.

My Summer of Love - Grade: B+


*The film was released by Focus Features on June 17th.