The Englishman who climbed a hill and came down from a mountain
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The Englishman who climbed a hill and came down from a mountain |
| Original title | The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain |
| Country of production | Great Britain |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1995 |
| length | 92 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Christopher Monger |
| script | Ivor Monger |
| production |
Harvey Weinstein Bob Weinstein Robert Jones Sally Hibbin |
| music | Stephen Endelman |
| camera | Vernon Layton |
| cut | David Martin |
| occupation | |
| |
The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain (The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain) is the title of a movie from the year 1995 . The cinema release in Germany was on January 11, 1996.
action
A Welsh grandfather tells his inquisitive grandson the following story:
In June 1917 during the First World War , the grumpy-choleric coming British surveyor George Garrad and his young, insecure assistant Reginald Anson on a reconnaissance trip through Wales (pronounced "Finnan Garu") in the village of Ffynnon Garw and measured the same mountain , which the locals pride themselves on as the first real mountain within Welsh borders. Unfortunately, it turns out that Ffynnon Garw just misses the minimum height of 1000 feet required for a mountain and is therefore only considered a hill that does not appear by name on the map.
The village community, which has been hard hit by the war, sees this as an attack launched by the unloved English on their mountainous homeland. Led by two archenemies, the pub owner Morgan "Der Bock" and the pastor , Reverend Robert Jones, the villagers defiantly decide to fill the mountain by the missing 16 feet and have it measured again. The onward journey of the two surveyors is sabotaged by all means, while the residents - mostly disabled, senior citizens, women and children due to the war - laboriously move earth from the village to their mountain and build an additional hill on its summit.
While Anson knows about the village's plans and finds the story highly amusing, Garrad suspects that the harassment is merely childish revenge. However, he soon realizes that he can not fight the collective stubbornness and flees into his bad habit of alcohol. In order for Anson not to have too long, Morgan places one of his friends, Betty, at his side, who initially plays the posh tourist "Miss Elizabeth", but drops this role when she actually falls in love with Anson.
On the last day before the onward journey, which cannot be postponed, the exertion costs 82-year-old Pastor Jones his life, and the work has to be interrupted into the night in order to bury Jones in the heaped pile according to his last wish. Since the surveying requires daylight, the project seems to have failed. But Anson, who even took part in the work on the last day, is persuaded by Betty to spend the time with her on the summit until the early sunrise. The morning measurement shows an altitude of 1002 feet - Ffynnon Garw became a mountain overnight. At the summit, Anson and Betty get engaged.
In the epilogue it is said that a current survey shortly before the start of shooting showed a height of only 997 feet, which means that the mountain has become a hill again. As a result, residents of the village, now in casual clothing from the 1980s, climb the mountain with wheelbarrows and buckets.
background
Although the film purports to be historical, the plot is largely fictional. It is based on a story from the Welsh village of Taff's Well or Garth Mountain a few kilometers north of Cardiff . With typically British humor, the story thematizes the deep-rooted dislike between English and Welsh people.
Embedded in this is the enmity between Morgan "The Bock" and Reverend Jones; one embodies unbridled lust for life up to hedonism , the other a strict, downright ascetic piety. Although the common mountain project unites the enemies, they do not speak a friendly word to one another. Reconciliation only comes about when the landlord attends the service on the morning of the last day of the action, in which the Reverend invites people to do Sunday work, and the Reverend Jones later his Morgan with the words "I know that I can count on you" entrusted last wish.
The film was shot in the remote villages of Llanrhaeadr-ym-Mochnant and Llansilin in Mid Wales , as the area around Taff's Well looked way too urban at the time of production.
Quotes
“How could we look in the face of those who returned from the war and found no more mountains? While they were fighting against the enemy ( in the English original 'the Germans', i.e. 'against the Germans' ), we had lost a mountain to the English. "
"I don't know what it's called in English - in Welsh we call it a bethyngalw ."
"I don't want to have to tell people that everything failed because of you!"
“Do you know what the Welsh say about people who spend the night on a mountain top? You will either become a poet - or crazy - or very, very wise - or ... "
Reviews
“A romantic comedy that praises the Welsh landscape and the people who live there in bewitchingly beautiful images. With sentiment and an enigmatic, bizarre joke, the film tells of Welsh stubbornness, but also of the timeless virtue of a community spirit that creates an identity. "
"Impresses with its quiet pace and reveals the small human weaknesses with a wink."
Awards
The film was awarded the Ecumenical Jury Prize in Moscow at the Moscow International Film Festival in 1995.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Certificate of Release for The Englishman Who Climbed a Hill and Comed Down a Mountain . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry , February 2012 (PDF; test number: 74 375 V).
- ↑ The Englishman who climbed a hill and came down from a mountain. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed November 27, 2016 .