in particular.Â
Frank’s father is fighting during the war, while his mother is working in a government ministry.
The film is bookended by Alice (Penelope Wilton) writing the story 30 years later. Weâve previously met
Alice
, living alone while researching the myths and fables of the faerie tales of yore. Alice when younger thought herself to be in love with Vera (GuGu Mbatha-Raw). When Vera wanted a family, the couple went their separate ways.
The feature-film debut of writer/director Jessica Swale, âSummerlandâ is a sort of love story that doesnât involve romance. Most of all, it tells how Alice and Frank find themselves building and nourishing a friendship that neither wants initially. We know that her heart will eventually thaw when he shows interest in the legends and folklore at the center of her research, especially Summerland, the pagan term for afterlife, and the corresponding images.
The wartime romance that cinema hasnât dared to show - until now
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The wartime romance that cinema hasnât dared to show - until now
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Look out from the south coast of England towards the horizon and you may spot a piled cloud formation that ancient myth dubbed Summerland, a fluffy eruption of turrets and castle where dead Saxon souls went to enjoy an array of their favourite things. Here on land, itâs the early 1940s. The war is in full swing, but barely registers with cantankerous scholar Alice, a professional debunker of myths, legends and local mirages who spends her days scraping at relics of old religions.