My Summer of Love [DVD]

The film is a coming-of-age story based on Helen Cross' poignant novel. Working-class Mona (Press) is struggling to cope with the changing nature of her existence, following her mother's death and the release of her brother from prison - now a born-again Christian who has turned their pub into a religious retreat and is making a giant cross to cleanse their quiet Yorkshire village of evil. Tamsin (Blunt) has similar problems of disillusionment, isolation and family resentment but is from a very different social tier - she is rich, spoilt and finding the long, hot summer a frightful bore.

I sat down to watch this film with the full intention of hating it, but was absorbed by the subtly seductive, hypnotic brilliance of this engaging love story between two young women. You feel a real bond and sincere respect between the two lead characters, at times comical and at others desperately sad. They make the most unlikely of pairs - in one scene we find Tamsin sitting in her mansion playing The Swan on her Double Bass, whilst Mona jokes that she lives above The Swan (name of the aforementioned pub).

This film is many things - it is an intimate story of sexual desire, a religious epitaph, a surreal comedy, but ultimately My Summer Of Love is a story that deals with the harsh realities of life. The imagery is at times uncomfortable; showing you only what you need to see whilst never hiding anything. It is in this that part of the films brilliance and charm lies. It is often graphic but never crass. Sombre yet humorous. Abstract but real. It plays on clichés yet is utterly unpredictable; I've never seen a garden gnome used in such a constructive manner.

Financed by BBC films and written and directed by the hugely talented former BBC documentary-maker Pawel Pawlikowski (The Last Resort), My Summer Of Love is the best British film I have seen, possibly ever. Pawlikowski's use of the camera in exploiting the fine performances of the two young brits is beautiful - perfectly complimented by a lush setting and Goldfrapp's eerie soundtrack. It captures a credible view of life in a dead-end town.

You may read the films synopsis and feel suitably uninspired, but please shed any doubts and don't miss this original and thought-provoking tale - something rare in a world of predictable plots and uninspired Hollywood cash-ins.

Two sixteen year old girls in the summer of their lives. They both live in Yorkshire, however, they might as well have lived on opposite sides of the moon. Mona, lives with her brother, Phil, who has found God and is born again from a life of crime. Tamsin is lonely and bored young woman, born to a wealthy family. They run into each other and become kindred souls.

Mona lives with her brother above a pub, and his friends come daily to appraise The Lord. Mona has lost the brother she knew, and she does not like this new one. Her boyfriend has dropped her and she has no one. Tamsin tells Mona she has lost her sister from anorexia, her father has an ugly buxom girlfriend and no one pays any attention to her.

Mona and Tamsin find adventure and freedom in the countryside. Mona moves in with Tamsin and they travel on a used motorbike. They visit each other's favorite haunts and eventually they find each other. Romance and love abound, but will it last? Phil w ants Mona to come home, or at least to come to his "Raising of the Cross". She and Tamsin do attend, but they also decide to upset Phil and his whole crowd and they do it in an unimaginable way that will upset everyone.

This is a film that shows the acting abilities of both of these women. Nathalie Press as Mona and Emily Blunt as Tamsin; were it not for their marvelous acting and playing their young selves, this movie would not jell. The carefree teens and their life of innocence and wanting is a realm of theatre that must be seen. The filmography is beautiful and the surrounding countryside is full of life.
Recommended. prisrob