SUMMER
UK, 2008, 89 minutes, Colour.
Robert Carlyle, Steve Evets, Rachel Blake.
Directed by Kenneth Glenaan.
This is a small-budget British film, a slice of life, raising a number of issues and, in unexpected ways showing aspects of a deep humanity.
The title refers to a summer when the central characters, Shaun, Daz and Katie, were sixteen, something of an idyllic time when Shaun was in love with Katie and she with him (despite her mother's stern disapproval) and Daz was something of a tearaway. The film is working on three time levels, going back to when the three were in primary school as well as in the present which is the main concern of the film.
As the film opens (with a Scottish setting though filmed in the English Midlands), we find Shaun and Daz in their forties. Daz is confined to a wheelchair and Shaun acts as his carer. We soon learn that Daz has very little time to live. At this stage, we are not sure what has happened to lead to this situation. With the flashbacks inserted in the action to build up the narrative links which do explain everything, there is a sense of curiosity on the part of the audiences: who really are these characters, what has happened to them, and why.
Robert Carlyle has proven himself an actor of great versatility. However, in films like this, he is so good that you believe that he really is the character. He is Shaun with every gesture, every movement of his face. It is a compelling performance. Steve Evets is also good as the older Daz, angrily confined to his chair, dependent on Shaun, a man of moods and finding that his teenage son is following in his uncontrolled footsteps.
While the film is generally naturalistic, there are moments of memory, dreams and fantasy which give more meaning to what has happened: that Shaun found school impossible, dyslexic, unable to spell and write and consequently ferociously angry towards boys who taunted him and towards himself. These disabilities still plagued him at sixteen but Katie was a great support and Daz, though not particularly responsible, a good friend. But Katie's mother organises her going away and Shaun's life is different.
When Daz is close to death, he goes in search of Kate (Rachael Blake) and then has the opportunity to put some kind of closure to the past.
One could say that this is a portrait of disadvantaged people, those who have difficult home lives, are considered slow and unteachable at school and whose future is disabled, but it is a sad story where friendship provides some humane hope.
Director Kenny Glenaan directed the Ecumenical award-winning Yasmin, a story of racial tensions between the British locals and the Pakistani British in Yorkshire.
1.A small slice of life? A film of humanity? Problems and questions?
2.The Scottish settings, the midlands location filming? The hill, the suburb and the streets, the house, hospitals, the school, the woods and the lake? Authentic atmosphere, sense of realism? The musical score?
3.The three time levels, their being intercut, the gradual revelation of character and plot?
4.The title, the summer when Shaun and Daz were sixteen?
5.The opening, Shaun and Daz on the hill, the clouds, Shaun and his thinking, Daz in his wheelchair, going down the hill, Shaun rescuing him? Taking him home, caring for him, showering and washing him, feeding him? Their talk? Danny and his wariness of his father? Shaun taking Daz to hospital, the discussions with the doctor, the news of his limited time, the jokes?
6.The flashbacks to when they were young, Shaun at school, his inability to spell, his difficulty in writing dyslexia? Daz and his independent spirit? The exhilaration of their bike rides? Katie joining the two? Problems at school, Shaun’s violence, his continued bashing of the schoolboy? The principal, the discussions with Shaun’s mother, the expulsion? At home, the meal, Daz eating the food, their going out together? Daz as wild and a follower?
7.The three at sixteen, the changes, Daz and his not having exams, a sense of freedom? Katie, clever, her mother’s disapproval of Shaun? The idyllic summer, on the lake, swimming, the sexual encounters? Shaun and the exams, his anger, his injuring his hand? In hospital? Katie’s support? His mother? Talking with Katie, her mother wanting her to leave and go to another school, Shaun not saying anything? Daz and his girlfriend, his son? The school, Daz and Shaun, the burning of the hall, Daz and his crash into the car, the accident and his being crippled? Shaun and his return to Daz?
8.The effect, Daz in his wheelchair, angry, drinking, ill? Sleeping, smoking, his meals, being washed, arguing with his son, getting Shaun to collect his drunk son? Cranky, arguing and insulting Shaun, collapsing and going to hospital? His death?
9.Shaun, his friendship with Daz, the effect of the accident, his life, going to the computer classes, his inability, difficulty in composing the job application letter? Finding Katie’s address, her father telling him, her mother’s disapproval? Visiting the office, Katie not coming out to see him? Her later coming to talk with Shaun? Daz and the funeral, Katie sitting with Shaun?
10.Shaun, the flashbacks, his trying to reach out, the barrier to his past? The scenes where the two actors portraying the younger Shaun walked past each other? The use of this kind of imagination to illustrate Shaun’s growth, change? Katie in his memories? The funeral, his being able to say goodbye, caring for Daz’s son? A funeral?
11.The issues of problem children, education, family, opportunities and lack of opportunities? The consequent anger, frustrations? The importance of hope and friendship?
