Film Review: Summerland Shows You The Power of Love
Sometimes, I wonder, what it must have been like for strong women in the past. Shucks! Even now, I a STRONG WOMAN wonder how us, ladies, survive. Add on layers of race, class, and sexuality and being a woman in every era can feel far from fun. Yet, when you are a strong person/ personality, you can’t help but continue on, even if you can’t stop the inherent pangs of human vulnerability. In Summerland, Gemma Arteron feels like the center of the universe as Alice; a lesbian in her thirties who lives alone in a small town, from WWII to 1975, which makes her appear to neighbors like the neighborhood witch. (I AM SO SERIOUS!)
Written and directed by Jessica Swale, the film thrives because it captures the prejudices and pressures women have suffered, historically, through the micro and individual interactions Alice has with her community. With Swale at the complete helm, as a woman, you feel the difference and nuance of a female cinematically speaking about the woes of womanhood. Alice is LITERALLY seen like a witch by others; who presume a woman, alone with no family, must have “cooties” or “dark juju” on her. Yet, as in fate, Frank (played phenomenally by the young Lucas Bond) is a kid with a big enough heart to see Alice’s and a dire situation that leaves him at her guardianship. In this sense, the film echoes the charm of 90’s and 00’s films like, Up and About A Boy, where a young boy befriends/ lands in the custody of an ostracized adult and reintroduces them to society and their self.
SUMMERLAND Official Trailer (2020) Gemma Arterton Movie
Arteron is so palpable from the screen. You feel the weight of Alice’s heart as someone that has resounded to her loneliness. Her lover, Gugu Mbatha-Raw’s glamorous Vera, has left her and started a family with a man; choosing to follow a society that does not even want her to lead in her own life. Yet, you can’t, necessarily, blame her when you see how Alice’s brilliance is quelled by neighboring prejudice and the overshadowing darkness of WWII. Much like the pandemic, this era engulfed the world and made itself present in everyday life and politics, which is why Alice’s refusal of typical “womanly” roles seemingly “rocks” the universe. She is independent, artistic, very smart, and strong, which are not considered “female” qualities, but they are the qualities of a friend and good parent, a la Bond’s Frank and Arteron’s Alice.
I love stories of friendship because, often, I think friendship goes unsung in its depth and importance in a person’s life. You often hear that friends are the family you choose, which is NOT a light matter. Thus, the beauty of Summerland is that it shows the power of children to conquer societal stupidity.Frank is kind, curious, open, and sweet enough to bring out these qualities in others, like Edie (Dixie Egerickx); another child, who because of surrounding adults, initially, sees Alice as scary. Yet, most importantly, he brings it out of Alice; a woman perceived as cold but has only closed herself off out of weariness for staying open to a society that shuts her out.
Summerland is a simple, stunning film, and is, particularly, geared for those that love time-pieces. Yet, what moves me about the film is that, again, it reveals that how society thinks of a person, in terms of their life, livelihood, and lifestyle does affect how they live. The beauty of Summerland is that, like the mythical place, it shows people survive through the few that love them. The world may have been warring and killing itself in WWII/ now, but it kept on going and healing because of bonds like Frank’s and Alice’s; people who chose to love each other and love how they wanted. POWERFUL! Summerland Comes Out July 31.
