SUMMERLAND

Gemma Arterton     Gugu Mbatha-Raw     Lucas Bond     Penelope Wilton     Tom Courtenay     Dixie Egerickx

     The film is immediately engaging in telling a war story about displaced children and those sheltering them when London was under siege in WWII.  Alice (Arterton) is one of the shelterers, although one initially rejecting the idea and agreeing to do it only for a week until another home can be found.  Alice is a writer who jealously guards her time, and is known as the local witch because of her acerbic personality and avoidance of friends or even friendly chats at the grocery store.

     What happens is that the child assigned to her, Frank (Bond), manages to worm his way into her heart, as most children will eventually.  When Alice discovers that Frank can actually be interested in her work as a researcher studying mythology, a bond is formed that takes Alice completely by surprise.  But the moments of joy and understanding will soon be interrupted and seriously threatened.

     One of the elements that makes the story so appealing is the attractiveness of the two main characters, played by Gemma Arterton and Lucas Bond.  Even when they’re first becoming acquainted, the actors are able to convey a special kind of connection that makes the story even more meaningful by the end.  Arterton is skillful in portraying the prickliness of Alice at first, and then her gradual transition into someone more “normal.”  Bond is a natural in playing a child who is reacting to trauma, but has a firm base of security coming from a good home with caring parents.

     Tom Courtenay as head of the local school and Dixie Egerickx as Philip’s classmate and friend both give delightful performances that lighten the, sometimes heavy, drama unfolding.  The part played by Gugu Mbatha-Raw is primarily in flashbacks that fill us in on Alice’s history, and she also provides levity and depth of character.

     Writer/director Jessica Swale does a fine job in flashbacks that make Alice in particular, with her quirky characteristics, believable.  The story she tells is fanciful—too implausible perhaps for some—but I think the information given toward the very end made it all come together and be more plausible, although still a bit unlikely to some extent.  Swale’s writing is beautiful with memorable lines such as, “Planes crash, Frank; what matters is how you deal with it.”  Some of its power is in it serving as a theme for the movie as a whole, along with another apt saying that “stories have to come from somewhere.”

     Summerland has much appeal, particularly for the time we are living in; but it is a story with richness and depth in characterization as well.

A good summertime movie to counteract some of the stress of current times.

Grade:  B                                    By Donna R. Copeland

45 YEARS

Charlotte Rampling     Tom Courtenay

            45 years refers to a couple’s marriage when they’re approaching their 45^th wedding anniversary, which will be celebrated with a huge party.  The couple, Kate (Rampling) and Geoff (Courtenay), are elderly, but still active in their daily lives.  They have an easy-going relationship; Kate is nurturing when Geoff needs something like a thumb damaged from fixing a lavatory, and although Geoff is a bit absent-minded, he is attentive and responsive to Kate.
          One morning when Charlotte returns from walking the dog in the beautiful English countryside, Geoff is reading a letter written in German, but needs to dig up his German dictionary to understand it fully.  As the two go through their things in the storage room and attic, we get a hint that the past will be encroaching upon the couple and figuring into present experience, a favorite theme of David Constantine, the author of the short story (“In another Country”) on which the film is based.

       Indeed, the letter is to inform Geoff that the body of a woman he was very close to fifty years ago has been discovered preserved in the ice in a Swiss Alp after she fell into a crevasse by accident during a hiking trip.  Her body was never found until recently.  Geoff is informed by virtue of his being listed as “next of kin.” 

      Kate remembers hearing a bit about Katia, but Geoff hasn’t been completely open about this earlier relationship.  When she finds out how close they actually were, she becomes uneasy, even though this is something that happened years earlier before she even met Geoff.  She can’t let it go, and keeps quizzing him and even goes through old memorabilia to find out more.  This only makes her feel worse, but she feels compelled.

     Geoff has mulled over the possibility of going to Switzerland, but Kate is emphatically against it, so he dismisses the idea, and reassures her.  She is bothered enough, however, to make him promise that he will be present at their anniversary party.

      45 Years may seem like 45 years to those who love films with a lot of action.  But Kate and Geoff lead fairly conventional lives, and most of the film is showing us a picture of their lives and their personalities.  Much of the value is the way in which the two, especially Rampling, fill up the screen as powerful actors.  They are in sync the way couples who have lived together for years become, and that will be the appeal for viewers who enjoy observing people in their everyday lives. 

       Another highlight is Geoff’s toast to his wife at the dinner party; it is tender and says the things Kate would seldom hear from him.  They dance together lovingly, but the story doesn’t quite end there.  Constantine is a gifted storyteller who delights in last minute surprises.

A look at a marriage approaching its 45^th year.

Grade:  A-                      By Donna R. Copeland