WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!!!
Cast
(In alphabetical order)
Marey....... Kathy Burke
Sophie....... Jennifer Ehle
Liam....... Ian Hart
Danny........ Douglas Henshall
Hannah....... Catherine McCormack
Cameron....... Dougray Scott
Alice....... Emily Woof
Short Synopsis
This Year's Love is a bittersweet romantic comedy about love, sex and heartbreak. We follow the story of six late-twenty-somethings from all walks of life living in Camden Town whose paths cross over the course of three years. Though their personalities and lifestyles vary, they all have something in common - the wish to meet that special someone who will make their lives complete. We join them on a rollercoaster relationship ride and share the often exciting, intense, fiery and passionate emotions that couples experience today.
Tattoo artist Danny Gorman (Douglas Henshall) and his beautiful fiancée Hannah McClafferty (Catherine McCormack) are very much in love. Waking up on the day of their wedding, neither has any inkling that it will all end in heartbreak. But newly wedded bliss dissolves before they even cut the cake when the groom discovers Hannah's recent indiscretion.
Danny and Hannah are thrown back into the 'singles' life, setting in motion the central themes of This Year's Love - eternal romantic optimism, sexual politics, interweaving relationships and unsuitable partnerships.
Their emotional "comedy of errors" brings with it some fascinating players. Liam (Ian Hart) is sincere, passionate to the point of obsession and living on a mental knife-edge. Sophie (Jennifer Ehle) is the archetypal rich kid turned rebel. An attractive, new age single mother living on the dole, she's politically correct, intelligent and challenging company - an alluring but combustible combination. Marey (Kathy Burke), a member of a pub band, is strong, supportive and caring - very attractive qualities to the man in distress, but what does she get in return? And as for Cameron (Dougray Scott), well, he's a good-looking rogue who lives for the moment. He calls himself an artist, but his real talent is meeting women...
This Year's Love examines the tricky politics of relationships facing the '90s "middle youth" generation, combining the comedy and irony of daily life with the, sometimes bitter, home truths of looking for love.
This Year's Love is an independent British film written and directed by David Kane and is financed by Entertainment Film Distributors and the Scottish Arts Council. Produced by Michele Camarda.
The production boasts an impressive cast of young British talent. These include: 1997 Cannes Film Festival Best Actress Award winner Kathy Burke (Nil By Mouth, Elizabeth), Jennifer Ehle (Wilde and the BBC's acclaimed production of Pride and Prejudice), Ian Hart (Backbeat, Land and Freedom), Douglas Henshall (Angels and Insects, If Only), Catherine McCormack (Land Girls, Braveheart), Dougray Scott (Ever After, Regeneration) and Emily Woof (The Full Monty, The Woodlanders). The film is financed by Entertainment Film Distributors, who also hold the worldwide rights, and by the Scottish Arts Council.
The Cast and their Characters
As well as having a clear feel for the identity of the film and its locations in their minds, both David and Michele had a strong vision of their ideal cast.
David has known Kathy Burke for years and knew that he wanted her for the part of Marey. He explains "Kathy is fantastic, brilliant! I had her in mind from the beginning and I wanted Jennifer Ehle, but I did not know if she was available. I also thought of Catherine McCormack pretty early on and had worked with Douglas Henshall before. Ian Hart, Dougray Scott and Emily Woof I only knew by reputation and we were very lucky we got them."
"The entire cast is really clever, we were able to improvise things so that the film has a natural feel to it. They were all good at recognising what is and isn't comic, how to make something sad or very funny." David sees these instincts as vital to performing in This Year's Love because there are times in the film when the scenes move from comic to sad very quickly.
Michele Camarda and David Kane were in agreement about casting from the outset and explains "We were always intending to cast Kathy Burke. The role of Marey is an interesting part for her, it's romantic and she also gets to sing! We were interested in Catherine McCormack as she did an amazing Scottish accent in Braveheart - it was very convincing. We were lucky to work with our first three female choices"
About the three male roles Camarda says "Dougray Scott is up and coming, a very good looking actor who has that dashing kind of talent. Douglas Henshall as Danny was another great asset and it was also a great coup for us to cast Ian Hart, who is a fantastic actor, with great range to play Liam."
Jennifer Ehle (Sophie)
Sophie is a young unemployed, single mother. Living on a canal barge behind King's Cross, she is the archetypal rebellious rich girl - very politically correct, independent minded and assertive. But all is not what it seems.
Jennifer Ehle says "Throughout the film Sophie is very much trying to find someone to be with without letting them in. I think she can't quite come to terms with the fact that she has to be open in order for that to happen and she's not really willing to do that. You don't ever see her in a happy functioning relationship - you get a bit of balance with Cameron towards the end, but she has not relinquished him any kind of control. She's still quite defensive I think."
Her most open relationship is with her son, Caleb, who has tremendous influence on her life to the point where he can veto her boyfriends. They are quite a team. "Sophie needs another adult in her life and she doesn't have one. She only has her eight-year-old son and I think he probably does know more than he should. She does let him in - he's the only person she really does let in."
So what attracted Jennifer to the script. "The script captured something that I hadn't read before - a side of London that I hadn't seen portrayed in a film before. It was very urban, sexy and funny. The characters aren't particularly healthy and you watch them make mistakes again and again. It's fascinating watching these six people in a petri dish - how they are struggling to find happiness and contentment and relief. It's quite a comedy of errors."
The role seems to be something of a departure for her. "You mean you wear a bonnet once and you're never allowed to take it off," she says jokingly. "It's a departure in that I have recently played a lot of very warm, loving women who stand by their man no matter what. Sophie is very different - she is standing by herself, scared to let anybody in."
Sophie is certainly no a bonnet-wearer! Her style is more army fatigues, dread locks and nose stud - not the way Jennifer has previously been seen. "I did actually offer to get my nose pierced. I suggested it but we didn't do it. I wear a little magnetic nose stud."
The script concentrates on people in Jennifer's age group, but does she identify with it on a personal level. "It's not the way I live personally, they all seem so desperate and lonely. They seem to jump in and out of relationships much more quickly than most people I know - certainly more than I do. There is something quite desperate - perhaps with Sophie in particular - but they are all looking for something. I think it's a really wonderful script and I do think that it's well observed."
Award winning British actress Jennifer Ehle trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama. She won the Radio Times Best Newcomer Award for her portrayal of Calypso in C4's The Camomille Lawn. In 1996 she won the Best Actress Award from BAFTA for her Elizabeth Bennett in the BBC's acclaimed costume drama Pride and Prejudice and followed this up by starring in the title role in Melissa for C4. Her feature film work includes appearing as Cynthia Lennon alongside Ian Hart's John Lennon in Backbeat and as Constance in Wilde opposite Stephen Fry's Oscar. Other feature films include Paradise Road, Bedrooms and Hallways and Sunshine. Theatre credits include The Relapse, The Painter of Dishonour and Richard III for the RSC.
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