This Year's Love

This Year's Love was released at a time in the fit of madness that followed Four Weddings And A Funeral, when everyone was desperate to rush out their very British romantic comedies. This Year's Love sadly got lumped it with all of these (generally poor) movies, which is a pity because it's one of the finest British films of the nineties.

It's not cute, although it does have charm. It's not a comedy, although there are some very funny bits in it. It's not particularly romantic, although it's probably a lot more honest about love than anything Richard Curtis has ever written. What it is is an example of the kind of movie Britain can do like almost nobody else: a small, dense, focused study of well-written characters being slowly destroyed by their own flaws, unfolding gradually like a really great novel. It's dense and meaty and thoughtful and sad, and essential viewing for anyone who's left cold by the more treacle vision of the Four Weddings... school of movie-making.

It does have a frantic dash to the airport at the end, I must admit. Although even that defies normal expectations.

Here's another fine British film, and I have to say it again, the film industry of this island is working fine! And this is exactly the sort of films European cinema in general does better than Hollywood, light comedies about ordinary people, realistic stories about realistic characters without the pretentious tears of the American melodramas. The story spreads over to years focusing on the love affairs of 3 women, Hannah (Catherine McCormack, the beautiful wife of Gibson in Braveheart (1995)), Mary (Kathy Burke, superb in Oldman's Nil by Mouth (1997), also in Elizabeth (1998)) and Sophie (the also beautiful Jennifer Ehle, seen in Wilde (1997)), and 3 men, Danny (Douglas Henshall), Cameron (Dougray Scott) and "I don't remember", who exchange lovers between them and are all linked in this strange way. The story seems to be triggered by the wedding in the starting sequence, but to me it is only the vehicle of introducing the characters. The setting is the Camden Town area of London and the time is today, so we get a glimpse of reality in the English capital. I have to reveal that the humouristic tour de force is the lager shower of Cameron in the pub. For all the sincere and unpretentious cinema a loving 6 out of 10.

found this film by mistake and wasn't expecting much, but was pleasantly surprised, a real gem of a movie. Cathy Burke singing was a surprise and she wasn't that bad, The characters were realistic and I know the area well so can attest to this, happy endings were not mandatory in this film which makes it more poignant. Could imagine another film with these characters being made five years down the line and still holding our interest. Dougray Scott was surprisingly attractive even with greasy hair, he showed a good understanding of the character. All in all the actors in this film showed why British film-making is up there with the best.

Well, I have read other comments less than flattering but my wife and I loved it. I don't care about the coincidences and any small contrivances, the characters were so well portrayed that by the end I knew them all personally and could relate them to people in my past. Don't get picky, do you want more of this or more 'You've got Mail'? I know what I prefer.

Words that fill me with dread: 'A Joel Schumacher Film' obviously, 'A Romatic Comedy from London', equally horrid. Yet finally someone has got it right - not Joel Schumacher of course.

Peter Kane's salty comedy is something quite new, an unsentimental, contemporary La Ronde set in Camden Lock. His bone dry script is adorned by a magic cast, not least the indomitable Kathy Burke, who is surely now England's greatest treasure. There is a real courage here, no corners are cut and no easy, neat solutions are adopted. If we are a little disgusted by the smugness of the artsy characters it is more than compensated for by their terrible sadness. Very human, very witty and beamed in from a different galaxy from the one that Hugh Grant inhabits.