My Summer of Love

''My Summer of Love'' is a 2004 British drama film directed by Paweł Pawlikowski and co-written by Pawlikowski and Michael Wynne. Based on the 2001 novel of the same name by Helen Cross, the film explores the romantic relationship between two young women from different classes and backgrounds. Working class Mona ( Natalie Press), whose once-hotheaded brother Phil (Paddy Considine) became a born-again Christian in prison, meets upper middle class Tamsin (Emily Blunt, in her theatrical film debut) who suffers from a lack of love in her family. Filmed in West Yorkshire, the film went on to win a BAFTA.

Plot

In the Yorkshire countryside, Mona is lying in a field when Tamsin passes by on her horse. Tamsin is from a wealthy family and says she has been suspended from boarding school. Mona comes from a working-class family, and her only living relative is her brother Phil. Both girls regard their lives as mundane and unsatisfying.

Mona finds Phil getting rid of all the alcohol in their late mother's former pub, which is situated below their living quarters. After going to prison for petty theft and violence, Phil has undergone a religious transformation and now uses the pub to host meetings of local Christians. Mona meets her lover, Ricky, for sex in his car, but he breaks up with her afterward. The next day, the girls begin to bond as they spend the day drinking, smoking and talking about their problems. The next day, Tamsin takes Mona to the house where Tamsin claims her father's mistress lives. Mona smashes a window of Tamsin's father's car, and the girls flee.

Tamsin purchases an engine for Mona's scooter, and they ride to a small river for a swim. Under a waterfall, the girls share a kiss. At Tamsin's house, Mona tries on her dresses. Tamsin tearfully recounts the death from anorexia of her sister Sadie. In the garden, Tamsin plays the cello while Mona dances. Tamsin kisses Mona passionately, and they later have sex, but they are briefly interrupted when Phil comes to the house looking for Mona.

Phil wants Mona to come with him to a local cross-raising ceremony, and Tamsin accompanies her. During the ceremony, Tamsin seems to be attracted to Phil. At Tamsin's house, she and Mona enter her sister Sadie's bedroom, where they find a bag of magic mushrooms. They take the mushrooms and go to a dance hall, where their raucous behaviour disturbs the patrons. They return to the river and declare their eternal love to each other, swearing a suicide pact should they ever be separated.

Phil later comes to Tamsin's house seeking Mona again. Tamsin lets him inside and pretends to seduce him, then switches to mocking him for his religious beliefs. He angrily chokes Tamsin, then releases her and forces Mona to return home with him, locking her in her bedroom. Later, during a meeting of the Christians, she loudly fakes suicide. Phil intervenes, but Mona further mocks his religious beliefs by pretending to be possessed by a devil. Reverting to his old anger, Phil beats Mona and forces the Christians to leave. Mona packs a suitcase and leaves to be with Tamsin.

When she arrives at Tamsin's house, Mona discovers that Tamsin is returning to boarding school. She also finds out that Tamsin lied about her parents, and that her sister Sadie is still alive. Dejected, Mona goes to the river. Tamsin joins her there and dismissively tells Mona that she shouldn't have been so gullible. Seemingly forgiving her, Mona slips into the water, enticing Tamsin to join her, and the two girls kiss again. Mona grabs Tamsin by the throat and holds her under the water, as if to kill her, but eventually releases her and walks away.

Cast

* Natalie Press as Mona
* Emily Blunt as Tamsin
* Paddy Considine as Phil
* Dean Andrews as Ricky
* Michelle Byrne as Ricky's wife
* Paul-Anthony Barber as Tamsin's father
* Lynette Edwards as Tamsin's mother
* Kathryn Sumner as Sadie

Production

Development

The novel of the same title, ''My Summer of Love'' by Helen Cross, only served as a blueprint for the film. Whereas the novel pays a lot of attention to the social background of England in the 1980s, Pawel Pawlikowski focused on the relationship between Mona and Tamsin. Most of the characters in the novel were left out in the film and the character Phil was created by Pawlikowski, who had previously directed a documentary on born-again Christians in Yorkshire. Pawlikowski has expressed he was not interested in portraying typical teenage life in England, and instead wanted to give the movie a certain "timeless feeling". In an interview with the BBC
...