Girlz Gone Wild! The British Edition
I watched this 2005 release on DVD the other night and it was even better than I remembered. It's one of the strangest and moodiest summer love stories ever committed to film, and it features dynamite performances from Natalie Press and Emily Blunt (who went on to play the bitchy British office assistant in The Devil Wears Prada).
My Summer of Love
Grade: A
Two troubled teenage girls meet on the moors and become obsessed with each other. Before long they’re making out at the local swimming hole and getting down and dirty in the bedroom. They swear that their love will last forever. But maybe this is all a game, a fake romance built on lies. Who’s manipulating who?
This is the central mystery in the British film My Summer of Love. Winner of several major awards, including the BAFTA Award for Outstanding British Film, this dark and gutsy feature by Polish writer and director Pawel Pawlikowski proves that love ain’t always pretty. These volatile girls are the lesbian equivalent of Catherine and Heathcliff in the stormy romance classic Wuthering Heights.
The film owes most of its success to the brilliant acting of the young female leads. Fiery redhead Natalie Press plays Mona, a girl who lives with her ex-con, born again brother. Despite his attempts to make a good Christian out of her, Mona spends her time smoking cigarettes, speeding on a motorbike and sleeping with a married man. Press, the worthy recipient of several British acting awards, is an intense, spontaneous actress. She springs her fierce emotions on us before we can brace ourselves for the impact.
Emily Blunt is far more subdued in her portrayal of Tamsin, a wealthy boarding school brat whose parents leave her alone in a mansion most of the time. She earns Mona’s pity with sob stories about her dead anorexic sister, and seduces Mona with longing glances and sweet kisses that lead to sexy shenanigans in the boudoir. Blunt lends Mona a chilly, mysterious quality, raising the possibility that Tamsin’s worldly sophistication masks some serious ill will.
The supporting cast is also strong, especially In America’s Paddy Considine as Mona’s well-meaning but hypocritical brother. Ryszard Lenczewski's artful camera work is another highlight.
My Summer of Love has a languorous feel, creating the sensation that we’re sweating out these long hot days along with the girls. But don’t mistake the pretty scenery and the slow pacing for some tame Merchant-Ivory production. This love story has plenty of cruel tricks up its sleeve.
Two troubled teenage girls meet on the moors and become obsessed with each other. Before long they’re making out at the local swimming hole and getting down and dirty in the bedroom. They swear that their love will last forever. But maybe this is all a game, a fake romance built on lies. Who’s manipulating who?
This is the central mystery in the British film My Summer of Love. Winner of several major awards, including the BAFTA Award for Outstanding British Film, this dark and gutsy feature by Polish writer and director Pawel Pawlikowski proves that love ain’t always pretty. These volatile girls are the lesbian equivalent of Catherine and Heathcliff in the stormy romance classic Wuthering Heights.
The film owes most of its success to the brilliant acting of the young female leads. Fiery redhead Natalie Press plays Mona, a girl who lives with her ex-con, born again brother. Despite his attempts to make a good Christian out of her, Mona spends her time smoking cigarettes, speeding on a motorbike and sleeping with a married man. Press, the worthy recipient of several British acting awards, is an intense, spontaneous actress. She springs her fierce emotions on us before we can brace ourselves for the impact.
Emily Blunt is far more subdued in her portrayal of Tamsin, a wealthy boarding school brat whose parents leave her alone in a mansion most of the time. She earns Mona’s pity with sob stories about her dead anorexic sister, and seduces Mona with longing glances and sweet kisses that lead to sexy shenanigans in the boudoir. Blunt lends Mona a chilly, mysterious quality, raising the possibility that Tamsin’s worldly sophistication masks some serious ill will.
The supporting cast is also strong, especially In America’s Paddy Considine as Mona’s well-meaning but hypocritical brother. Ryszard Lenczewski's artful camera work is another highlight.
My Summer of Love has a languorous feel, creating the sensation that we’re sweating out these long hot days along with the girls. But don’t mistake the pretty scenery and the slow pacing for some tame Merchant-Ivory production. This love story has plenty of cruel tricks up its sleeve.
posted by Stephen @ 12:08 PM
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