MB

Has anyone seen this yet?

I have always had quite a bit of an interest in Dylan Thomas - other than that - I'm not sure about it. Any good?

dremble wedge

I'm strongly considering going to see it some time this week.

I'll be happy as long as there's some great 40s clothes, hats, cigarettes and a few lines of And Death Shall Have No Dominion!

MB

I'm sort of looking forward to it..not sure about the casting. Hoping to be pleasantly surprised.

I love Dylan's poetry and his private life was fascinating..but I do wonder about these 'expose' biographical films and you really couldn't get any more personal than this.

I like the forties styling too!Very chic..and Glenn Miller in the car. There is something about forties big band music that is great for tootling along in the countryside.

Steve Crook

Ignore the fake animation, just listen to the words

A similar one with my favourite, "Do not go gentle"

Steve

sippog

Some reviewers seem to think that the Dylan character is peripheral to the women in the film but I'd still like to see it.

I was brought up on Dylan's voice on record. With Shakespeare and the Bible, it's the language that most resonates for me. Recently I bought the complete Caedmon recordings on CD from Amazon.com - a bargain. It includes the only recording of Dylan himself reading the first voice in UNDER MILKWOOD which I'm afraid ruined me for anyone else playing the role - including Burton

dremble wedge

Saw it today and quite enjoyed it although I don't know how accurate it all is.

The first half, set in a Blitz-raddled London is much better than the second, where proceedings move to a rainy Welsh coastal village. It runs out of steam towards the end and could do with more Dylan Thomas in it as he's the most interesting character there (but granted it's not a Thomas biopic).

Matthew Rhys is excellent as Thomas, Keira Knightley is perfectly acceptable (although I don't know how good her Welsh accent is, I'll leave that to the experts) and Sienna Miller gamely tries as Caitlin without ever really getting there (although she's probably better than original choice Lindsay Lohan would have been).

They all look fantastic too (of course none of the actual people were this photogenic), whether glammed up in West End nightclubs or wearing a fetching dresses-and-wellingtons combo in the Welsh countryside. There's also a bit of singing from Knightley, whose voice is fine, and Suggs who makes a convincing 40s crooner.

As it's set in the war everyone is constantly smoking - in pubs, in the bath, in bed, whilst pregnant - much like the Withnail & I drinking game I suspect keen chuffers will try to match the cast fag for fag when it reaches DVD.

Director John Maybury films Knightley's face from some unusual angles so that she looks... odd at times. Strange that someone so familiar from constant exposure can look so different on occasion.

Mark it down as 'interesting' rather than a complete success, but it's encouraging that Knightley and Miller opted to do a low budget BBC film (albeit one that was written by Knightley's Mum).

Steve Crook

Was that from the New York performance?
A sublime performance

Steve

sippog

Yes. It's really an official bootleg. Apparently someone put a little reel to reel recorder under his chair one night and the tape has survived as the only recording made of his performance. It's not too bad quality either - considering. You have to ajust to the American accents but the performances are pretty good on the whole. I had the vinyl version in the 60's and then bought the cassette version here a while ago.

The Caedmon compilation is the only CD version that i know about and includes lots of fascinating stuff - such as Dylan reading poems by other poets and some journalistic pieces he wrote. Much better than the "greatest hits" cd here and worth the money IMO.

MB

I'm going to see it tonight. Sort of worried about it, but Dremble Wedge's review has eased that a bit.

I know some people are 'put off' by Keira Knightly and Sienna Miller. I just had a conversation with an auntie who ranted for for a good few minutes on this subject. One of her objections was interesting - and pretty across the board, I would say..that the people playing the parts should be fitting..if they are significantly 'better looking' it might make a difference to how we view the relationships between the characters..

That aspect doesn't bother me too much..you can make an attractive actress look plain..it is the acting ability that counts surely, but I know it is a common complaint with films such as this.

I'm not really comfortable with the whole 'expose' notion of it..in some circumstances I think it is completely innapropriate and unnecessary to portray someones private life this closely..so I shall have to see...

As for Dylan.. I think that one of the most interesting aspects I have read concerning Dylan's ability was that he was 'alienated' from the language, but not the culture he was describing.
His parents were native Welsh speakers who spoke English to him, as far as I can remember, almost exclusively...so Dylan learned the language, essentially, from people with an outsiders perspective in terms of language, but within the same cultural background and as his 'first' language. There are only a few cultural situations where that is entirely possible and Wales has it.

MB

I thought it wasn’t bad at all, actually. I enjoyed it and I think it could bring Dylan Thomas to a new audience and teach them a little about wartime Britain (I thought the blitz scenes were particularly well made..)

There is a lovely theatrical, 'heightened reality' approach in places and I like this in an autobiographical film because it is clearly not trying to be pretend to be a definitive study ..I always think that films claiming to show ‘the truth’ in situations like this are either naïve or a bit arrogant.

You could say that it was clichéd in places..there wasn’t anything in there that any but the very young wouldn’t know about the second world war…

I’m going to tell my auntie to go and see it. I don’t think any of them are ‘unreasonably attractive’ for the roles. Bar Sienna Miller, I think they are quite ordinary looking and all quite fitting for the parts. Sienna Miller, actually, plays this part with real determination and comes out of it very well, I thought.

Matthew Rhys is entirely believable as Dylan, but the character really is a peripheral one – the film focuses on the relationship between the two women – which is very touching..we don’t see enough of this genuine kind of female friendship explored in film..I’ve had a few powerful female friendships like that over time and they really are as complicated and heartfelt as you can get...

It’s not going to leave you shattered by a complete upheaval of your basic thoughts or anything..it is ‘Wartime Britain’ 101 for the Jude Law generation and a bit of nostalgia for everyone else..and I would have liked to hear a bit more of Dylan’s poetry, which is why I really went to see it and I expect most of the other people there..

I’ve also now got a bit of a thing for Cillian Murphy (who plays William Killick) as, I imagine, will most women who go and see it.

dremble wedge

I thought the scene in the pub during an air raid rang true (not that I'd know of course).

MB

There is another film coming out later in the year about the relationship between Caitlin and Dylan - 'Caitlin'. I'm not sure who is in this? And a quick look on the internet hasn't turned anything up - but it is produced by Pierce Brosnan.

Given Peirce's determination to involve as many Irish actors, stories etc as possible in anything he produces (and why not, I suppose - I am allowed to say this as I am three quarters Irish myself..) - I can only hope he has the good sense to wheadle Cillian in there somewhere - anywhere - I don't mind... I am even going to watch 28 days later which I have had no interest in before.

More achingly beautiful poetry and a bit more of Cillian please.

Brief Encounter

The trailer and the period make it look like a Gainsborough-type film. I'm going to see it tomorrow, when it finishes at my local 'arthouse'. It seems to have made very little impact nationally, for some reason.

dremble wedge

I think it's because it had a a fairly low key release (when I went to see it I was the only person ion the cinema!).

It's a BBC production so I imagine it will appear on TV in the very near future.

Brief Encounter

I just saw it - I was one of about half a dozen...

Yes, I imagine it will have many TV airings. Anyway, trailers are very misleading - the film isn't quite 'Gainsborough'. I found it an interesting watch, but the problem was that everything was a bit unclear, and to me the characters were underveloped. What's most amazing about the lack of success, though, is that the female leads are such big stars.

Then again I have a feeling the public aren't interested in films of its ilk at present - they prefer Hollywood fodder with things blowing up every ten minutes.