My Summer of Love

I saw this movie in Albany, NY USA and I thought it was great. I admit, I went because the two young girls were super hot and lesbians are always sexy. But watching it, I really got to like the people in the story. It's not really a sexy movie, but it's a very good drama about people.

Mona, the working class girl, is so sexy and yet so vulnerable. She has no idea she's a beauty, or that she's stronger and more creative than the people around her. She thinks that being sophisticated means smoking and drinking and acting bored all the time. So when she meets Tamsin she is instantly captivated!

Tamsin is spoiled and rich, used to being adored. When the rough, but very sexy young working girl looks up at her with innocent admiration, cruel and shallow Tamsin thinks it might be amusing just to get her going for a bit. But pleasure soon leads to passion, out of control.

Both girls in this movie are superb, wonderful actresses. Mona could seem dim, but we get how smart she could be if she just woke up to the phony side of Tamsin. Tamsin could seem evil, but we get how lies and make believe are the only way she can get attention.

It's a lovely film, with only a couple of tiny flaws. I thought it was too easy for Mona's "boyfriend" to be just a selfish, fat lout. It's the kind of thing you always see in lesbian films, like the girl needs an "excuse" to find love with another woman. Why need an excuse? Also, I would have liked just a bit more on Tamsin's family -- do they know what she really is? Do they care? Just a hint or something at the end.

My theory about why American audiences didn't like this movie is about culture, but not just that Americans are dumb. Americans, when they watch "British" movies, expect to see dukes and duchesses, aristocrats, Jane Austen elegance. Just a couple of teens smoking and drinking doesn't look "British" to us.

You can't say Americans don't "like" British movies, but if you look at GOSFORD PARK and compare it to MY SUMMER OF LOVE you can see what I mean. I hated GOSFORD PARK, thought it was paper thin and sentimental, but it gave Americans the England they want -- aristocrats, servants, luxury, scandal.

See what I mean?

My Summer of Love is a brave, sincere film, which gives us, cinema-lovers, the hope that cinema is not dead and is not only a money-making entertainment machine whatever the cost. It looks hard into life of today, but this look is not to frighten, to scare, to scandalize - I'd call it poetic realism, in the best traditions of cinema, when its great masters were not afraid to experiment, but only strive for true presentation of their idea and of their characters. It is also a film about love, because it is done with so much love for people who follow their heart, and who value their openness and freedom of expressing themselves. Highly artistic work of it's author Pavel Pavlikovski, and also of actress Natalie Press, whom I was happy to see at the Sofia Film Fest, at the Bulgarian premiere of the film on 11 March 05.

This film is basically about two girls who find each other and engage in a tender and passionate love affair. One might stop right there and feel that that makes for a great movie.

However, this film is so much more. It had the unfortunate circumstance of going up against Vera Drake, else it might have taken every British and European award for 2004.

Yes, there is a tender and passionate love affair between Emily Blunt (The Devil Wears Prada), in only her second film, and Nathalie Press (who we will see this year in Brontë). But the film is so much more.

They don't spend all their time making love; they do have some fun, and it's really funny.

There is the brother, played by Paddy Considine (Hot Fuzz), who found Jesus in prison (don't they all?) and is concerned for his sister's soul. His new-found spirituality is severely tested and found wanting.

Things are not what they appear, and director Pawel Pawlikowski does a great job of taking us to the surprising ending. Just when you think you know how it will end, you are fooled and fooled again.

This is a must-see.

In this day and age it would appear that films that are British made now need a certain Hollywood endorsement or require to be set in chic surroundings in order for it to be considered a triumph. One wet, dreary Glasgow's summer night I stumbled upon this in the video shop and having heard much about I chanced my luck and got it out. On previous occasions I had the opportunity but the subject matter I had found to be off putting. This film is an art-house masterpiece displaying an unusual relationship between a working class girl living in a dull rural town and an upper class private school girl. The film is capturing as you watch their relationship develop towards an ending which is perfectly summed up as bitter sweet. The lead performances are excellent and Paddy Considine is outstanding as the reformed alcoholic turned Christian. This film deserves to be seen by many and warrants much of the praise it gained. Also it gave new hope to many who felt that Britain's days as a great country to make films were over. Rating: Simply excellent

I really enjoyed this film. I especially liked the langour of its pacing (helped by a wonderful soundtrack), certainly at the start where we simply observe the girls hanging out together drinking copious amounts of red wine and smoking constantly. Something about the timelessness, the heaviness of the heat, the bird song and buzzing insects caught perfectly that summer after 'A' levels where there is nothing to do but simply live, spend time with friends, and fantasies can take on a larger and more defined shape than realities. The 'lesbian' angle was handled deftly - though as another user commented, it would be good to see a film which manages to trace the intensity of female adolescent friendships without having them be sexual in nature - but this is a very special time, and the film caught that beautifully. The poignancy of Mona's existence was undersold as well, which gave it a greater power - she is the one who has truly suffered loss, whereas Tamsin... well, you have to make up your own mind about that. A minor film, but hits its notes perfectly.