Summerland (film)

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Movie
Original title Summerland
Country of production United Kingdom
original language English
Publishing year 2020
length 99 minutes
Rod
Director Jessica Swale
script Jessica Swale
production Guy Heeley ,
Adrian Sturges
music Volker Bertelmann
camera Laurie Rose
cut Tania Reddin
occupation

Summerland is a drama film directed by Jessica Swale that released in UK and select US theaters on July 31, 2020. In the film, Gemma Arterton plays the reclusive writer Alice Lamb, who is assigned a boy who was evacuated from London during the Second World War.

action

The reclusive writer Alice Lamb has come to terms with a lonely life on the coast of southern England, where she lives near the sea cliffs. The often moody Alice wears high-waisted trousers and smokes chains and is hated by the entire community as much as she hates children.

The Second World War is raging in Europe. One day a group of children comes to the seaside town to be temporarily housed for their safety. An inattentiveness to checking her mail that caused her to overlook a letter about the impending evacuation leads Alice to have to take in a boy named Frank who was brought to safety from the air raids in London. At least until an alternative solution is found, she reluctantly takes him in.

Alice makes no attempt to be nice to her young guest. Although she gradually warms up a little for him, her feelings and thoughts are still with her great love Vera, with whom she separated years ago and with whom she spent the best time of her life in the 1920s. So she and Frank both have problems with a separation, he with the separation from his parents, Alice with Vera's. A friendship develops between the rebellious Edie and Frank at school.

Alice is working on an investigation into the popular belief of "Summerland" and the scientific theories that there is some truth to every legend and miracle that exists in reality but has been misinterpreted as magic or divine act over time.

production

The title of the film derives from Alice's investigation of the pagan conceptualization of the afterlife known as "The Summerland". The agnostic explains to Frank that, according to popular belief, their souls went to this mythical place after death. This idea forms the core of the film, as "Summerland" represents a more hopeful future for the two main characters, a happier, less war-torn time.

The work of the mystic Emanuel Swedenborg on an intermediate realm inspired the spiritualist Andrew Jackson Davis in his major work The Great Harmonia to state that Summerland is the culmination of human spiritual achievements in the afterlife, the highest level or "sphere" of the afterlife one hopes for may. Charles Webster Leadbeater , a theosophist and occultist, also taught that those who were good in their previous earthly incarnations went to a place called Summerland between incarnations. In theosophy this is also referred to as the astral plane "heaven". It thus represents the Wicca equivalent of heaven. The followers of Wicca believe in reincarnation combined with the idea that the intermediate world is assigned to a certain dimension called "Otherworld" or "Summerland", where one meets deceased relatives and loved ones and reflect on his past life.

British actress Gemma Arterton plays Alice

It was directed by British theater director and playwright Jessica Swale , who also wrote the script. Her play Nell Gwynn won the Olivier Award for best new comedy in 2016. This premiered at Shakespeare's Globe in London's Southwark play is about the life of Nell Gwyn , mistress of King Charles II. At Summerland is Swales film debut.

Gemma Arterton took on the role of Alice Lamb. British child actor Lucas Bond plays Frank. Gugu Mbatha-Raw can be seen in flashbacks in the role of Alice's great love Vera. Both Arterton and Mbatha-Raw played the title role in Swale's comedy Nell Gwynn , Mbatha-Raw 2015 during the first season at Shakespeare's Globe, Gemma Arterton 2016 in the West End. Swale and Mbatha-Raw had been friends for many years. The play became controversial because Mbatha-Raw, a woman of mixed race, was cast in the role of Nell Gwyn, a historical white figure. Penelope Wilton plays the older Alice in 1975. Dixie Egerickx plays Edie, whom Frank befriends at school.

Filming began in late summer 2018 and took place in East Sussex, such as Seaford, Kent and Brighton, where recordings were made at the train station.

The film music was composed by Volker Bertelmann . In August 2020, Needlewood Records released the soundtrack album with a total of 25 pieces of music for download.

IFC Films secured the rights to Summerland . The first trailer was presented at the end of May 2020. The film was released in cinemas in the United Kingdom on July 31, 2020. A start in selected US cinemas took place on the same day. The film is scheduled to be shown at the Florida Film Festival in August 2020.

reception

The film is rated positively by 75 percent of all Rotten Tomatoes critics. Although they were disappointed by the plot with its exaggerated characters and the structure of the film in general, which was often described as "soapy" and especially in the last third of the film, drifting into the unbelievable, the main actress Gemma Arterton was considered great and guarantor by the majority of the critics seen for the success of the film. Together with Gugu Mbatha-Raw and child actor Lucas Bond, she holds the film together.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Mike McGranaghan: Summerland. In: aisleseat.com. Retrieved July 27, 2020.
  2. ^ A b Dan Mecca: Summerland Review: Gemma Arterton Delivers Career-Best Work in Effective WWII Drama. In: thefilmstage.com, July 27, 2020.
  3. ↑ a b c d e David Rooney: 'Summerland': Film Review. In: The Hollywood Reporter, July 27, 2020.
  4. ^ Charles Webster Leadbeater: A Textbook of Theosophy , 1912.
  5. ↑ https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-the-summerland-2562874
  6. ↑ The Pagan Afterlife: Where Do Pagans Go When They Die? In: otherworldlyoracle.com. Retrieved July 27, 2020.
  7. ^ Raymond Buckland: Wicca for Life: The Way of the Craft - From Birth to Summerland. Citadel Press / Kensington Publishing Corporation, 2001.
  8. ↑ Jay Lustig: Lighthouse International Film Festival combines drive-in and online events. In: njarts.net, June 14, 2020.
  9. ↑ a b c Tom Grater: 'Summerland': Watch Debut Trailer For Gemma Arterton Period Drama; IFC Films Plans Theatrical Release In July. In: deadline.com, May 26, 2020.
  10. ↑ Tom Grater: Gemma Arterton to star in Jessica Swale's 'Summerland'. In: screendaily.com, April 28, 2017.
  11. ^ A b Clark Collis: Gugu Mbatha-Raw talks Summerland and Loki. In: Entertainment Weekly, July 27, 2020.
  12. ↑ Holly Williams: Gugu Mbatha-Raw on swapping Hollywood for Shakespeare's Globe to play Nell Gwynn. In: independent.co.uk, September 12, 2015.
  13. ↑ http://www.shakespearesglobe.com/theatre/whats-on/west-end/nell-gwynn
  14. ↑ https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2015/nov/27/gemma-arterton-to-play-nell-gwynn-in-west-end-apollo-theatre
  15. ^ Nia Daniels: Trust Me and Summerland start UK filming. In: theknowledgeonline.com, September 18, 2018.
  16. ↑ film crews spotted in Brighton train station shooting star-studded drama. In: Brighton & Hove Independent, October 20, 2018.
  17. ↑ https://filmmusicreporter.com/2019/02/11/volker-bertelmann-hauschka-to-score-jessica-swales-summerland/
  18. ↑ https://filmmusicreporter.com/2020/08/20/summerland-soundtrack-released/
  19. ↑ Dave McNary: IFC Films Lands US Rights to Gemma Arterton's 'Summerland'. In: Variety, April 20, 2020.
  20. ^ Summerland. In: floridafilmfestival.com. Retrieved July 17, 2020.
  21. ^ Summerland. In: Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved August 16, 2020.
  22. ↑ https://www.hollywoodnews.com/2020/08/01/summerland-goes-for-your-emotions/
  23. ↑ https://www.metroweekly.com/2020/07/summerland-review-gemma-arterton-shines-in-deeply-felt-lesbian-drama/
  24. ↑ https://jumpcutonline.co.uk/2020/07/review-summerland-2020/
  25. ↑ http://splashreport.com/film-review-summerland-a-quiet-escape-in-a-quiet-summer-at-the-movies/
  26. ↑ https://www.ft.com/content/4d51da40-1d5e-4bd4-90b0-91e5a6ff5e22