SUMMER

By Kenny Glenaan • 2008 • 83’ • UK

REVIEWS

“SUMMER sees Robert Carlyle deliver one of the best performances of his career. He plays Shaun, a lowly petrol station attendant frustrated by life but doing his best to get on with the crappy hand he’s been dealt… With intelligent and lyrical use of flashbacks, director Kenny Glenaan builds up a thoroughly convincing and moving picture of how easily lives on the margins of society can go wrong and, thanks to some stunning visual flourishes, he also captures the way idealised childhood memories can exert a strong hold on those for whom the present is tinged with regret. But it’s Carlyle’s beautifully understated turn that really holds this together. Gruff, funny, tough and tender, he seems to instinctively negotiate a tricky, potentially showy character arc with great skill, grace and compassion.”
– The Scotsman  

“Robert Carlyle has a way of capturing the offhand, unspectacular way people live and has found an ideal vehicle in SUMMER… Sweeping the boards at Scottish BAFTAs, Glenaan’s SUMMER picked up gongs for Best Director and Best Feature and showcased a great performance from his lead, Robert Carlyle who was recognised at the Edinburgh International Film Festival for Best Performance in British Film. Glenaan says, ‘on a personal level, a BAFTA is an encouragement to keep discovering your own voice as a filmmaker who is Scottish. It’s whether you hot-tail it away to somewhere else and try to make middle-class romantic English comedies — which is a bit like getting into the bath with your socks on — or whether you want to be a mirror to the times we’re in.’”
– Scotland on Sunday

“The role won Carlyle a BAFTA Scotland best actor nomination, and the PPG award for Best Performance in a British Film at this year's Edinburgh Film Festival. The jury called it a "flawless performance in a great, uncompromising film”… SUMMER's backdrop is bleak (even if the story, ultimately, is not) that of a land and people hollowed out by industrial decline. Summer’s realism and sense of fair play in dealing with emotional topics has already seen it favourably compared to the work of Ken Loach and Shane Meadows.”
– The Guardian

“The important thing about SUMMER is there’s no “ist” or “ism” attached to the film. Glenaan says, ‘it doesn’t blame anyone. It doesn’t say Margaret Thatcher is terrible because she closed the mines down and that Ian MacGregor was her puppet. Its not even interested in that. You’re looking at men dealing with emotions and masculinity; a wee dysfunctional family that’s made up of men.’”
– The Arts

★★★★ “[T]his is a powerfully emotional drama with Carlyle on top form and a potentially career-making performance from young Sean Kelly (who reminded me a lot of SHAMELESS's Jody Latham) as the teenaged Shaun. As well as getting powerful performances from his actors, Glenaan brilliantly captures the feel of carefree summers in small towns and orchestrates some astonishing sequences, such as a shocking and heart-breaking scene in which Shaun deliberately crushes his hand in a vice out of frustration with his dyslexia. Powerful, beautifully shot and emotionally devastating, this marks Glenaan out as a talent to watch.”
– Edinburgh Film Festival Blog

“A carefully-calibrated study of damaged lives and enduring friendship, SUMMER is a moving and expertly-constructed British drama. SUMMER declares its cinematic sensibility right from the opening shots which confidently establish a sense of English landscape and stillness. Tony Slater-King’s evocative cinematography constantly emphasises the sun-kissed brightness of a cherished summer.”
– Screen Daily

“This is big-hearted social realism from Scottish director Kenny Glenaan… SUMMER is another film that’s powered by a brilliant central performance, this time from Robert Carlyle. He is heartbreaking as Shaun, a man broken by the hand life has dealt him, and Kenny Glenaan’s film weaves present and past together to create a clear picture of how Shaun has ended up where he is today. Although at times hard to watch because it’s so sad, SUMMER is never morose or glum; it looks beautiful and the music often gives it a dreamlike quality. It’s arguably Carlyle’s best performance ever, certainly his most recognisably human one, and provokes such compassion and emotion that it left me feeling quite drained. Highly recommended.”
– Future Movies

“Carlyle’s central turn is one of the year’s most poignant and tear-jerking acting displays.”
– Sky Cinema

“Sharply written with an award-winning performance from Robert Carlyle, this is an engaging drama that packs a powerful emotional punch.”
– View London