This film is part of Rentals
Summerland
Gemma Arterton stars in acclaimed theatre director Jessica Swale’s moving Second World War drama, as a woman rediscovering her ability to love.
Director: Jessica Swale
Overview
Secluded in her picturesque countryside cottage, Alice toils away at her academic thesis on pagan myths while the rest of the world is in turmoil. The Second World War rages, yet its impact is barely felt by the solitary and prickly writer. Unmarried, she attracts the consternation of local villagers and is tormented by their children. Nursing a heartache from her past, Alice would quite like the world to leave her alone, but it has very different plans for her – in the form of Frank, an evacuee from London. Initially determined to be rid of this interloper, the guilelessness of youth soon breaks though Alice’s tough exterior. The boy opens old wounds with innocent questions about Alice’s past. Through flashbacks, we see the reason for her pain – an all-consuming love affair with the decadent Vera (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), which unfolded when both women were barely out of their teens and everything seemed possible.
Swale’s rapturous feature debut is a heartfelt rumination on the power of love, set against a beautifully-shot Kent coastline. Arterton has rarely been better as the fiercely independent Alice, coming to terms with her past and finally setting herself free for a future she could only dream about. Summerland was supported through development and production by the BFI using funds from the National Lottery.
Related
The Wild Pear Tree The Wild Pear Tree
Drama 2018 189 mins Director: Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s follow-up to his Palme d’Or-winning Winter Sleep is a persuasive portrait of a young writer at odds with his hometown and family.
End of the Century End of the Century
Romance 2019 84 mins Director: Lucio Castro
A chance encounter reconnects two men in this heart-breaking lament on love, lust and missed opportunities.
The Chambermaid The Chambermaid
Drama 2018 102 mins Director: Lila Avilés
Lila Avilés provides an engaging, behind-closed-doors look at the working environment of a chambermaid in one of Mexico City’s most luxurious hotels.
Anaïs in Love Anaïs in Love
Drama 2020 98 mins Director: Charline Bourgeois-Tacquet
In this spirited romantic comedy, the footloose and fancy-free Anaïs (Anaïs Demoustier, The New Girlfriend) skips from one lover to the next while trying to find some direction in her life.
Winter Sleep Winter Sleep
Drama 2014 197 mins Director: Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Modern master filmmaker Nuri Bilge Celyan’s Palme d’Or winner: an extraordinary, epic drama.
Akenfield Akenfield
Drama 1975 98 mins Director: Peter Hall
Peter Hall’s extraordinary, long-unseen work of sublime poetic realism traces three generations of one Suffolk family and their lives in the farming industry.
A Bigger Splash A Bigger Splash
Thriller 2015 125 mins Director: Luca Guadagnino
Ralph Fiennes delivers a sensational performance as one of four passionate souls sharing a villa in the Sicilian sunshine, with jealousy, intrigue and violence simmering beneath the surface.
One Love One Love
Romance 2005 96 mins Director: Rick Elgood and Don Letts
Rick Elgood and the legendary Don Letts direct this reggae romance about a rasta musician whose affair with a gospel-singing preacher’s daughter causes a stir in Kingston.
92 in the Shade 92 in the Shade
Comedy 1975 87 mins Director: Thomas Mcguane
Peter Fonda and Warren Oates feature in a sweaty tale of warring Florida fishing outfits, in this quirky and long unavailable comedy-drama.
Talk About Jacqueline Talk About Jacqueline
Comedy 1942 70 mins Director: Harold French
Jacqueline journeys to the French Riviera to escape her controversial past and find an eligible bachelor in this comedy-drama lead by the wonderful Carla Lehmann.
Murina Murina
Drama 2021 96 mins Director: Antoneta Alamat Kusijanovic
Tensions rise between restless teenager Julija and her oppressive father Ante when an old family friend arrives at their Croatian island home.
The Innocents The Innocents
Horror 2021 118 mins Director: Eskil Vogt
A group of children discover they have magical powers during a long, hot summer together in Eskil Vogt's (Academy Award-nominated for his screenplay for The Worst Person in the World) fairytale horror.
The Critic The Critic
Thriller 2023 101 mins Director: Anand Tucker
Ian McKellen is in delicious form as London's most vicious critic, who strikes a Faustian pact with a struggling actor (Gemma Arterton).
Tamara Drewe Tamara Drewe
Comedy 2010 111 mins Director: Stephen Frears
The return of beautiful journalist Tamara Drewe (Gemma Arterton) awakens destructive passions in a Dorset village.
The Escape The Escape
Drama 2018 101 mins Director: Dominic Savage
A remarkable central performance from Gemma Arterton shines through this perceptive, deeply compassionate portrait of a woman on the road to becoming herself.
Their Finest Their Finest
Comedy 2017 117 mins Director: Lone Scherfig
Gemma Arterton sparkles in this witty drama set in the world of propaganda filmmaking during WWII, from director Lone Scherfig (The Riot Club, An Education).
Misbehaviour Misbehaviour
Drama 2020 106 mins Director: Philippa Lowthorpe
Keira Knightley and Gugu Mbatha-Raw star in this inspirational story about the infamous 1970 Miss World contest.
Farming Farming
Drama 2018 107 mins Director: Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje
A fostered Nigerian boy growing up in Essex loses all sense of identity and joins a racist skinhead gang. Actor Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (Oz, Lost) directs this powerful drama based on his own, extraordinary upbringing.
The Wild Pear Tree The Wild Pear Tree
Drama 2018 189 mins Director: Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s follow-up to his Palme d’Or-winning Winter Sleep is a persuasive portrait of a young writer at odds with his hometown and family.
End of the Century End of the Century
Romance 2019 84 mins Director: Lucio Castro
A chance encounter reconnects two men in this heart-breaking lament on love, lust and missed opportunities.
The Chambermaid The Chambermaid
Drama 2018 102 mins Director: Lila Avilés
Lila Avilés provides an engaging, behind-closed-doors look at the working environment of a chambermaid in one of Mexico City’s most luxurious hotels.
Anaïs in Love Anaïs in Love
Drama 2020 98 mins Director: Charline Bourgeois-Tacquet
In this spirited romantic comedy, the footloose and fancy-free Anaïs (Anaïs Demoustier, The New Girlfriend) skips from one lover to the next while trying to find some direction in her life.
Crimes of the Future Crimes of the Future
Science Fiction 2022 108 mins Director: David Cronenberg
Cronenberg’s fully-fledged return to body horror and the cinema of transgression.
Wilding Wilding
Documentary 2024 75 mins Director: David Allen
A dying landscape is healed against all odds, going on to thrive in astonishing ways, in this hopeful story of ecological regeneration.