Summer in February

"The Morning Ride"  AJ Munnings (1913) 

I suppose it was easy to buy cyanide in 1913; I expect you'd pop into Boots and pick up a bottle along with your laudanum and smelling salts. Not so easy in today's nanny state; if you want to do yourself in these days you have to go around the check-out half-a-dozen times to accumulate enough paracetamol. I daresay if Florence had to do that she might still be alive today - although as she would be 130-odd I suppose she would have succumbed to something else by now.

Personally, I always like to read the instructions and dosages before taking any medication but, apparently, Florence didn't bother. (The recommended lethal dose of potassium cyanide, by the way, is 200-300mg or about a teaspoonful.) I always find when I drink out of the bottle some of it spills down my shirt front so it's difficult to estimate exactly how much I'm drinking. Anyway, fortunately, she got it right the second time.

The film was based on the novel of the same name written by Jonathan Smith and the novel was inspired by the diaries of Gilbert Evans. Yes! He was a real person and most of the events portrayed in the film really happened. There's a lot more detail on this web site:
http://www.gilbertevans.net/lamorna-1909-1914.html

You can see a slide show of 700-odd pictures by Munnings here: (Be warned - there's A LOT of horses):
http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/yourpaintings/artists/alfred-james-munnings

You can find plenty of information on-line about AJ Munnings, and all the other Cornish clotted bohemians. I couldn't find out much more about Florence - although she was supposed to be an artist I couldn't find any trace of her output. There is a lot of stuff about Laura Knight who seems to have been a much more interesting character.

Sorry about the difficulty hearing the dialogue - it was our first time at Saint Austin's. He is the patron saint of brewers, printers, theologians, the alleviation of sore eyes, and a number of cities and dioceses. But not, unfortunately, projectionists. (Although there were one or two sights for sore eyes.) We'll get it right next time.

Audience feedback was the lowest of the season so far at 64%:

A	Lovely film!
A
A	Great viewing pleasure!
B	A moving story & not too long! Beautifully acted, directed & photographed.
B
B	Really enjoyed it – very good acting and a touching story – especially in relation to what was to follow.
B	Beautiful scenery.
B	Classic English drama.
B
B	True love – wonderful.
B	Well acted. Lovely scenery, lovely music. A haunting tale. Quite spellbinding.
B	Very interesting insight into a way of life prior to WW1. Venue – sightlines good, acoustics difficult at times, décor a bit bleak.
B	A bit disappointed with Florence's character, that she chose suicide, having shown a more independent character at the beginning. Nice scenery.
B
B	Outdoors perfect. Characters perplexing.
C	I found it difficult to follow the story partly because the dialogue was not clear.
C	Occasionally dialogue not clear. Enjoyable.
C	A disappointing adaptation of the novel. Dominic Cooper isn't convincing as AJ.
C	You didn't really get to know the female lead, so never really sympathised with her. A number of facts were never revealed in the film only hinted at.
C	Very atmospheric and well filmed – but not obvious why Florence married AJ – the cause of all the unhappiness.
C	A Tragic Tale very well acted.
C	Beautiful scenery.
C	Insight into artist colony of early C20: interesting and enjoyable (as usual)
C	Bit love, bit culture & a little sad. Was OK
C	A very pleasant film. Lovely setting. * Could have done with sound up just a bit * I sat at back, would prefer to be nearer.
C	Sitting at the back so sound poor – missed quite a lot of dialogue. Beautiful scenery, costumes etc.
C	A tad slow-moving.
C	It would be interesting to know how accurate it was. Munnings was portrayed in a rather stereotypical manner as the charismatic artist. Florence was annoying.
C	Meaty and fairly good acting but predictable ending and disappointing to have a victim ending. Characters only half developed.
C	Visually beautiful. Pity the dialogue at times was unclear.
C	Beautiful colour, scenery and casting. The sound was quite poor, which spoilt the enjoyment of the film for me.
C
C/D	Unattractive characters who deserved each other!
D	Badly acted, clichéd
D	Found it very slow, but well acted.
D	Beautiful scenery, costumes and acting (in places). Hated the stilted dialogue. Louder sound next time please!
D	Beautiful to watch but pity about the script and direction.
D	Poor script – lovely scenery.
E	The characters were not developed enough to feel any warmth towards them. DULL !
E	Sorry didn't like it. Like “The Notebook” but felt longer. Yawn!

Online stuff:

Rotten Tomatoes 34% audience rating:

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/summer_in_february/

IMDB 5.6 out of 10:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2184287/

Michael Hann  in The Guardian “Proof that truth is duller than fiction comes with this tale of real events in the Lamorna artists' colony in Cornwall in the months before the first world war.”

http://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/jun/13/summer-in-february-review

Derek Malcolm in the London Evening Standard “..I possess a portrait of one of my father’s horses by Sir Alfred Munnings ... my father’s painted horse, if only he could speak, could probably tell me more about Munnings the artist than Summer in February does.”

http://www.standard.co.uk/goingout/film/summer-in-february--film-review-8658572.html

You can see a slide show of 700-odd pictures by Munnings here: (Be warned - there's A LOT of horses):
http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/yourpaintings/artists/alfred-james-munnings

Gilbert Evans web site:
http://www.gilbertevans.net/lamorna-1909-1914.html