Under Milk Wood (2015 film)
| Under Milk Wood | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Kevin Allen |
| Written by | Kevin Allen Dylan Thomas |
| Starring | Rhys Ifans |
Release dates |
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Running time | 87 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Languages | Welsh English |
Under Milk Wood (Welsh version: Dan y Wenallt) is a 2015 Welsh drama film adapted from the play by Dylan Thomas, directed by Kevin Allen, narrated by and starring Rhys Ifans. The film was selected as the British entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 88th Academy Awards but it was not nominated.[1][2][3]
Production
The 2015 version of Under Milk Wood was filmed largely in the Pembrokeshire village of Solva during the Summer of 2014.[4] Two versions of the film were shot, one in English and the other in Welsh (known as Dan y Wenallt) put forward for Best Foreign Language Film at the 2016 Oscars.[5]
Cast
- Rhys Ifans as Captain Cat
- Lisa Palfrey as Mrs Dai Bread 1
- Charlotte Church as Polly Garter
- Buddug Verona James as Mrs Ogmore-Pritchard
- Aneirin Hughes as Organ Morgan
- Boyd Clack as Mr Pugh
- Di Botcher as Mrs Dai Bread 2
- Llyr Ifans as No Good Boyo
Critical reception
The Independent in its review of the film says it "shows tremendous visual imagination in places and has plenty of ghoulishness, scabrous humour and eroticism along the way" and "doesn't hold back on depicting the grotesquerie of the Wales that Dylan Thomas evoked".[6] Rhys Ifans' "delivery is calmer and more measured than Burton's mercurial, intensely dramatic rendition" and just about holds together the "dozens of surrealistic tableau-like scenes". It gives the film three out of five stars.[6]
The Mirror also gave the film three out of five stars, though describing it as a "noble failure" where the director "deploys no end of visual tricks to match Thomas’s lyricism – a glaring palette, soft focusing and even a camera seemingly mounted on the back of a mouse – but the tricks distract as much as they divert".[7]
See also
- List of submissions to the 88th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film
- List of British submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
References
- ^ "81 Countries In Competition For 2015 Foreign Language Film Oscar". AMPAS. 9 October 2015. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
- ^ "Welsh-language film adaptation of Under Milk Wood is UK's submission for Oscars". South Wales Evening Post. 10 October 2015. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
- ^ "Under Milk Wood entered for Best Foreign Language Oscar". The Telegraph. 10 October 2015. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
- ^ "Solva taken over for Under Milkwood filming". BBC News. 23 June 2014. Retrieved 29 November 2015.
- ^ "Under Milk Wood: Rhys Ifans calls film a 'joyous tirade'". BBC News. 30 October 2015. Retrieved 29 November 2015.
- ^ a b Geoffrey Macnab (29 October 2015). "Under Milk Wood, film review: Snobbery and spanking in rural Wales". The Independent. Retrieved 29 November 2015.
- ^ David Edwards (30 October 2015). "Under Milk Wood - review: Audacious adaptation of Dylan Thomas classic is a noble failure". The Mirror. Retrieved 29 November 2015.