My Summer of Love

Pavel Pavlikovski directed the bleak, austere 'Last Resort', and was sacked from 'Sylvia' on grounds of having an insufficiently commercial sensitivity.

Now he had made 'My Summer of Love', a nicely observed tale of a teenage lesbian romance. As in 'Last Resort', Russian-born Pavlikovski paints an enticingly skewed picture of Britain that rings true in spite of its aberrence; and gets good performances out of his cast, especially Paddy Considine as the brother of one of the girls, who could certainly have used more screen-time, though his co-stars Nathalie Press and Emily Blunt are also good. The film steers clear of cliché, and has some dryly funny dialogue, but what it lacks is a sense of time as a continuum: it feels like a semi-random sampling of its characters' lives, and although there is a clear plot it's hidden in the background, apparent only later. In some ways, this is also true to life, but it also means that the film remains low-key right up to the moment of its suddenly dramatic conclusion. Pavlikovski also seems surprisingly keen on static location shots (before we see the characters inside of a house, we always see the house from outside),

which jars slightly given the film's general artistic merits. Distinctive, and well-worth watching, 'My Summer of Love' isn't quite a great film; but it is an interesting effort from a director committed to representing life in the ways that Hollywood never does.

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 a nutshell, one summer two young British women from different classes meet and befriend one another, and eventually their relationship gets romantic. That may not sound terribly original, but the way it's executed here by director Pawel Pawlikowski is lovely, and this film has a lot going for it. It's also not as predictable as it may seem.

Natalie Press and Emily Blunt are both brilliant in the lead roles, and easily make this film worth seeing. The moments when Press imitates the devil and when she shows Blunt how a man shags her are priceless. So is seeing Blunt playing the cello and their dancing scene to Goldfrapp's dreamy 'Lovely Head.' The pair have a physical relationship but I liked how restrained Pawlikowski was in showing this. There are wonderful scenes of them disappearing into the flowers and sitting in front of the firelight in silhouette, but what they say and do never feels cliché.

Meanwhile, the patriarchy is on display via the hypocritical brother who has "found God," the backstory of the father who's abandoned the family, and the guy who cheats on his wife with a young woman and then ruthlessly discards her. The film is saying something about men and women here, but it's also saying something about class. I won't spoil it, but the ending is fantastic. At 86 minutes long, it was the perfect length too.

This is a charming film. A pretty simple story of two slightly dysfunctional girls who meet by chance and become drawn to each other, who fall in love through the summer vacation, who have fun together and then, inevitably, part, is brought totally to life by the charismatic performances of the two young leads. The film looks gorgeous, shot in the beautiful Yorkshire moors, and the direction is sharp. This film is a near perfect rendition of an oft told tale of growing pains and confused adolescent feelings and is so delightfully rendered as to make any further comment superfluous. To see it is to love it! Go see.

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?