I Fell In Love with "Summerland"

I was delighted to learn that a few theaters around our city were now "somewhat" opening after the horrid Covid 19 isolation. Oh, how I'd missed movies! So, anxiously, I looked to see my options. I also knew that my oldest son and I would be going together. (Background: we both had been recently single-again in our lives and he was now living with me again.) I wanted to find something that we both would enjoy. So, I looked at the trailers of what was been played.

When I saw Summerland's trailer, the same one as above, I was immediately stopped in my tracks. I loved the English countryside setting, the 1940 tweed clothes, and the historical backdrop of the story-line. But when I heard the actor, Tom Courtney telling Gemma Arterton's character, "Nobody knows how to be a parent...but you two...gosh, you make quiet a pair," an automatic lump came to my throat and a tear to my eyes. I knew my son and I had to see this movie together.

I was barely nineteen when David, my firstborn, was born. He had definitely been my trial and error child. I made many parental mistakes. But we had such fun, such heartbreak, such battles, such life along the way. Our bond has been unbreakable throughout it all. And now, he had found himself with grown children and reflections of his own about his offspring. Ahh, the boundless circle of life.

I am a very picky movie goer. My time is far too valuable to spend two plus hours watching something that is of no benefit to me either emotionally or aesthetically. So, I have my personal criteria as to what a good movie is in my books:

Number one, the story must have some sort of meaning or at least, make you end up thinking or wondering in some capacity. (Easier said than done)

Number two, the characters must be rich. Not in wealth, but have a depth so that you want to know more about them, what made them the way they are so that you become them in some sort of wondrous way or you have at least, been them in your own life story.

Number three, the setting and the times of the movie must be totally believable so as you feel the sea breeze, hear the bombings, smell the dirt of the land, and feel either the bondage or freedom from it all.

And lastly, Number four, for me is this: the movie must make the point with nuance rather than vulgarity. Nudity and profanity aren't always necessary. If a movie leaves me with my own imagination, it is much better. In fact, if a movie can't fulfill that obligation and insists on thrusting me into only the director's idea/imaginings, then I feel shorted.

As you can see, I am picky. But that's okay. It's my dollar and my time, right? So now, I will break Summerland down for my criteria grading:

I will not give this beautiful story away. I want you to see it and verify if I'm correct. But what I will tell you is this: there is plenty of meaning behind this movie. And the characters were people I will forever hold in my heart, because maybe, just maybe I found myself and the ones I love in their faces and their lives.

Gemma Arterton plays Alice, jaded by life and willfully determined to prove that believing in God or magic is just hogwash.

Gugu Mbathat-Rau plays Vera, full of wisdom with a clear, non-stoppable path to her own destiny and true to her heart's desires.

And then there is my favorite, Lucas Bond, who plays Frank. He is the child that has been forced into Alice's life, full of insight and unconditional love.

I would be remiss not to mention Penelope Wilton as Older Alice, who captures the very life that Gemma has portrayed in Younger Alice to a tee. And she made me laugh out loud because of that.

As I said before, the World War II English countryside setting doesn't get any better and the wardrobe in this movie was so genuine that I thought I had opened my grandmother's and mother's old clothes closets. The streets of London during that time echoed the pictures I've seen in history books of what could never adequately be described except for terrifying. And the viewer immediately understands why the city children were sent off to live with fellow British country folks to escape that turmoil.

Summerland was a love story of many facets. The story was pure and thoughtful and the approach was elegant and poignant. It was a story within a story, like a blanket woven with no trace of a telling thread. When finished, that blanket wraps you in warmth and takes you to magical places. When the movie ended, my son and I could only look at each other and grin because we both had been crying. Sad tears. Happy tears. Life tears. Good tears. Thank you, Jessica Swale, for writing and directing such a beautiful blanket of love and hope.