My Summer of Love

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

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.

First of all, the young leads Nathalie Press and Emily Blunt acted superbly; these newcomers are really stunning for the way they movingly played this character drama, showing every sort of emotion a human being may feel. "My summer of love" is not only a lesbian love affair between two needy and sexy teens, set in a beautiful countryside, but it's also a thoughtful portrayal of friendship, deception and obsession. In spite of a story starting as an erotic drama it finally turns into a suspenseful and powerful situation. Last but not least Paddy Considine is also up to the film brightness, rendering a man whose redemption seems to slowly fade.

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.