Product: Under Milk Wood [VHS] (1973)
Rating: 3.0
On the whole...
...I have to agree with the previous reviewer to some degree.This film is, or rather has become, a curious and highly camp peice of "Old fashioned Theatre", on film. Under Milk Wood was meant to be a play for voices, written for radio and essentially an elongated poem which explores the Welsh way of life Thomas knew, the mid wars era, it originally explored the strange musicality and poetic nature of the language and speach of this small and mystical Country.Their are heavy themes of goodness , wickedness and sexuality and the indoctrination of good Chapel values on social order.Consequently the high drama of the voices renders the acting a curiously dated tone here, many fine Welsh actors appear but seem to gloriously, and sometimes cringingly, add flamboyance and excess colour to the characterisations.It doesn't quite work and Taylor is hopelessly out of her depth, playing more the Hollywood Diva than her character, but it does stand as a curious historic peice, the sweet shop, butchers, kitchen scenes and haberdashers are a delight and the scenery is beautifully picturesque but it all seems a bit overdone, even though it has to be to match the language, it doesn't reach a modern audience in the way Thomas intended I'm sure. Worth a look but I really recommend listening to a recording of this play, the way it was intended. Keen travellers will delight in knowing that "Fishguard", the actual location in Wales of the film, remains remarkably unchanged and very much worth a visit.