My Summer Of Love Review
by [email protected] (dnb AT dca DOT net)July 14th, 2005
MY SUMMER OF LOVE
A film review by David N. Butterworth
Copyright 2005 David N. Butterworth
***1/2 (out of ****)
Mona, a freckled-faced Northern lass, putters about the Yorkshire countryside on a Honda motorcycle without an engine she bought from the "gypos" for a tenner. Tamsin, a spoiled, well-educated young lady who lives in an ivy-clad mansion and rides a huge white stallion, is inspired by Nietzsche, Piaf, and red wine.
In Pawel Pawlikowski's latest film, the division between the classes is clear, but there's something more going on in "My Summer of Love," a summer of discovery, friendship, and yes, love.
Mona--her real name is Lisa but folks call her "moaner" because she complains a lot--lives above The Swan with her older, born-again publican brother Phil (Paddy Considine, currently on display as James J. Braddock's longshoreman buddy Mike in "Cinderella Man"). A former brute, Phil has turned the family pub into a shrine for sinners, hoping to convert his sister to the calling some day. Their mother is dead and Mona, like many freckled-faced Northern lasses, never knew her father.
Tamsin's parents, on the other hand, might as well be dead, or unknown. Mother is rarely in evidence and her father is frequently off shagging his secretary--Dad spends a lot of time driving to her housing estate semi fronted by mute garden gnomes in his sporty Jag.
With the mutual burden of lazy, hazy summer boredom between them, Mona and Tamsin take to each other quickly. Mona wishes to better herself, become a lawyer even. Tamsin has it all but is clearly unhappy with her lot. The two hang around talking, drinking, and sunbathing-- pulling pranks and courting danger and each other (if you go anticipating hot lesbian action you might be disappointed.) Mona and Tamsin form a bond, share secrets, make a pact.
Like his 2000 film "Last Resort" (in which Considine played the arcade manager), Pawlikowski's "My Summer of Love" is a small film that takes you by surprise by the honesty of its performances, the credibility of its narrative, and the crispness of its cinematography (by Ryszard Lenczewski), which captures the beauty of the girls and the season equally well. As a writer, Pawlikowski manages to speak volumes with efficiency, simplicity, and clarity (his screenplay is based on the novel by Helen Cross). And as a director he milks the emotions by presenting a realistic worldview without resorting to hyperbole, Big Statements, or special effects... although the effects of his films are lasting and very special.
Both girls are terrific in this coming-of-rage film. Newcomer Nathalie Press plays Mona--think a young Sissy Spacek as portrayed by Toni Collette: soft exterior, feisty interior (or maybe it's the other way around?). Emily Blunt plays Tam--dangerous and demure. Together these two young actresses are exhilarating. And Considine (the father in "In America") contributes yet another wonderfully low-key, understated performance--it's nice to see someone's finally noticed him (see Ron Howard's latest film).
Winner of a BAFTA award and the top prize at last year's Edinburgh International Film Festival, the open, poetic, and very sincere "My Summer of Love" is a rapturous film experience that softly and sparingly lulls you awake. And it's all the evidence one needs that the director's "Last Resort," one of my top films of 2000, was no fluke.
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David N. Butterworth
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