My Summer of Love (2005)

I found the storyline a bit like a sunken ship to be honest...OK so Mona's brother Phil told everyone at his 'parish' to buzz off and told them they are fakers. Then when Mona leaves, he didn't go after her and apologise. C'mon really? The film crew didn't bother given the character more passion or emotion. They didn't do a good actor choice because really, Paddy Considine was not the best choice to play a role of a 'obsessively religious' older brother. As for Natalie Press and Emily Blunts characters, the storyline among Mona & Tamsin was pretty much dull. Like they were lovey Dover but then Mona found out Tamsin was lying of her sisters death and the parents being separated. It really ruined the whole movie and I honestly don't know why it has gotten so many awards. I think it truly doesn't deserve it as I don't consider the best films I've ever seen. :/

I have to preface by saying that I only got partway through it. The constant smoking was unnecessary. I got tired of looking at the girls smoke. I personally find smoking disgusting, so it ruined the movie for me. I kept hoping they would stop, but when they kept lighting up I gave up. That is really all I have to say about it, but since the minimum length of a review is 10 lines of text, I will continue. I also did not like the brother's religiosity. Religion is obsolete and I really wish that humanity would move beyond it. The scenery was nice to look at. It was well photographed. If you can tolerate smoking and religion, then you might like this. It was interesting to see the relationship between the girls develop because they are very similar in some ways and very different in other ways.

My Summer of Love is a wonderfully observed, simmering drama about love, identity and coming-of-age shared between two girls during one warm summer in a sleepy and somewhat unspectacular rural area of England. But where the tall, lonely country houses sit amongst the overkill of trees and tall plantation hidden away, remarkable items happen to two young souls running on scarred prior histories amidst the sunny haze, culminating in a rather terrifying sequence capturing the destructive nature of an extreme fondness for another human being in a location previously established to be a safe haven for admitting said fondness. The film clocks in at under an hour and a half, but achieves so much more and gives you that sense of journey in this short runtime than certain other films clocking in at a round two hours can seemingly do.The girls of the film are Mona (Press) and Tamsin (Blunt), two individuals that meet in a field when the latter, by way of horseback, rides along and finds Mona lying in the grass. Very quickly, the film establishes a sense of empowerment in the character of Tamsin; her position on a horse as we look up from Mona's point of view is distinctive in its use of low angle and positioning of one character quite literally on the floor with the other atop an animal. Mona is bored and lonely, living with recently released but now converted Christian criminal Phil (Considine), her brother, in a disused public house they own; whereas Tamsin is away on suspension from her boarding school for whatever reason. Her place of dwelling being a large and somewhat dystopian place for Mona when she first visits; captured by way of a long shot of the entrance hallway from the inside as she stumbles through the panel floored room full of riches and items.The girls are both of different classes and backgrounds. Lisa is a somewhat rough, pub dwelling loose cannon whose male partner makes crude love to her in the back of his car as during the days, she drifts aimlessly around and mocks her brother's attempts to live a life so much differently to that of his previous one. But these young women are bound by their being stuck in said location and in their inability to connect with parental family figures; plus, a supposed initial sense of unity through past suffering of a death within the family. What follows is a predominant uncovering of sexuality, although certain characters have certain secrets that become more omnipresent in what is a wonderful character piece with the greatest of respects to its subject matter.The film is a mature character study, focusing on the transitions people go through at various stages of their life for whatever reason, with religious transitions and changes linked to one's sexuality taking centre stage. But these transitions are not easy, and what differentiates them from one another is that Phil's is an enforced change, something he consciously takes on with his sister Mona's gradual veering into homosexuality sincerely natural. Polish born director Pawel Pawlikowski shoots the film's location with a warm and misleadingly welcoming glare, complimenting the sorts of emotions I think Mona goes through when she first meets Tamsin and eventually comes to recognise the friendship between them. His long shots of the overall village and its surrounding hills and train lines make it look a bit like a model, as if it isn't really real, which systematically sets up that sense of falseness within some of the characters in the film; that sense of all is not as real as initially established. Later on, whilst in a more suburban part of the town and a housing estate, Tamsin will remark to Mona how fake she thinks everything looks: "like Lego" she exclaims, as the bricked up and much-akin to one another houses stand tall and bland, the sorts of cars in the driveway that Marv from 2005's Sin City would describe as looking like "electric shavers".As their friendship and trust deepens, further visits to Tamsin's large house unfolds for Mona; each one shot as less awe-striking than the first as she gradually settles her way into this relationship with a girl outside of her own class divide. Pawlikowski's script has them dance to an Edith Piaf song together, striking up some rather typical but deliberately so links to French music; the French and that odd sense of romance some people have when thinking of such items. When a kiss ensures at a local secluded spring amidst the sunny glare, Mona tries on a number of different dresses once again back at the house until she can find the right one, a metaphorical sequence capturing her attempts in finding a 'new' her, as her changing persona becomes more apparent.My Summer of Love captures the sense of undergoing transition wonderfully, an identifying of an old way of life or belief then the systematic moving on and away from it. In Phil, that once criminal life that he wishes to bury with a newfound sense of Christianity, as groups of religious people congregate in rooms once lent to drinking one's self into a stupor; is counter-produced with Mona's rejection of her old lifestyle: lazy days doing nothing and evenings of easy, empty sex swapped for a newer and fresher relationship with someone whom will eventually inform her of the kind of love, or loving exchange, that'll instead mean something. Despite disliking brother Phil, and the film making it known she has very few things in common with him, what happens to them both towards the end as they go in search of that epiphany connects them in a way previously unseen as new ways of life and living take their toll. Stark, tragic and smart; My Summer of Love is thoroughly engaging.

"My Summer of Love" is essentially a film about – true to the film's title – a summer romance shared between two girls from vastly different backgrounds. While the two characters are female, this film doesn't deal with issues of sexuality, coming out, homophobia, etc. – it's merely a romance between two young people connecting, period. (Therefore those that are cautious about watching a film dealing with homosexuality shouldn't be weary, as this film can appeal to those of all genders despite sexual preference, and not exclusively lesbians.)As you can guess by my rating, I immensely enjoyed My Summer of Love. The atmosphere, music, and cinematography are dreamy, lush, and capture the mood quite perfectly – reminding me of something from a Sofia Coppola film (who I think is a director who certainly knows how to capture beauty on screen). Nathalie Press and Emily Blunt give fantastic performances as the two leads and also share equally undeniably great chemistry. Of course the story is excellent, and the ending – without revealing any spoilers – is satisfying (though this is arguable) but surely leaves you thinking, which in my opinion, is what a great film does – leaves the audience something to think about and discuss.Although I thought the pacing to be very good, I understand that some might find it "slow". Regardless, the story and characters are timeless, so I feel that despite the generation you come from, you'll certainly feel nostalgic and will have no trouble relating to this films' young characters. 10 stars. Great film.