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On the Black Hill
UK Film 1988: Ronan Vibert content: approx 1% (113 mins) Character: Jim 'the Rock', backwards, thieving, Welsh sheep farmer Cast: Bob Peck Amos Jones, Mike Gwilym Benjamin Jones, Robert Gwilym Lewis Jones, Gemma Jones Mary Jones, Jack Walters Sam Jones Dir: Andrew Greive Based on the book by Bruce Chatwin Availablity: PAL VHS £12.99 |
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| Plot/Comments:
On the Black Hill is a stunningly photographed, Hardy-esque study of four generations of Welsh sheep farmers in the harsh but beautiful border hills. Although beginning with the Jones patriarch (a charismatic Bob Peck), the film focuses on the intense relationship of the twin sons who cannot bear separation: through their childhood and early manhood, to painful separation in WWI; from their adult mutual resentment and jealousy, to their devoted, exclusive, and somewhat lonely old age. The performances are first class, with an acutely-observed sense of community reflected in the casting. |
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of the main themes seems to be that time is a great healer, and this leads
to my one quibble on the plot: although the bitter and violent feud over
land between Jim the Rock's and the Jones twins' fathers has cataclysmic
repercussions, it seems to come to an abrupt end without being resolved.
Not yet having read the book, I can't say if this was simply edited due to time restraints, but as a major catalyst in the first part of the film, I expected it to be either continued or resolved in some way in the next generation. Admittedly I am biased on this count: more development on this plot strand would have increased the Vibertology quota. |
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| Back
Empire State
Back Sammy & Rosie Get Laid Next Rowing with the Wind Next The Mother (Brecht) VIBERTOGRAPHY |
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| Ronan
content:
Jim is a backwards, lanky, clumsy, ignorant, thieving dolt. We first see him (played by 2 younger actors) noisily stealing chickens from Amos and having the living daylights beaten out of him when caught. While the Jones' are hardworking, Chapel-going, teetotal paying tenants on the Black Hill, Jim's godless, roguish, Welsh-speaking family have been there in some form for generations, living a wholly meagre existence in a one room shack which doubles as a stable. |
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Typical
Ronan Character Quote:
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| The
feud over grazing rights intensifies over the years (to Vibert's time of
paying Jim), leading to a bitter and violent escalation of mutual sabotage
which culminates in the reciprocal slayings of the Jones' sheepdog and
Jim's cart pony. Jim's father later schills the auction of the Jones' land
up to a point which places Amos in a position of huge debt.
As stated above, it does seem slightly jarring how the family feud evaporates, and it would have been interesting to see the issue handled by the next generation. Ronan
has very little screen time. We see him lankily weaving towards the corpse
of the cart pony during the revenge/feud montage, and again at the recruitment
drive for new chaps to go to the WWI front. Jim, elated and carried away
by the patriotic fervour of the evening is confused by the English colonel's
speech (there are two types of people: the first are qualified to enlist,
but do not; the second are ready to join up and save Queen, country, and
their fellow soldiers) by wildly and proudly procaliming "I'm the number
one!".
From the film, we are never sure if Jim returns from the Front. When the twins attend the Chapel on Benjamin's return, you can see a figure at the front of the congregation who looks very much like the slicked and moustachioed Ronan of The Mrs Bradley Mysteries, but it is a fleeting glance. Whether this is coincidence, or whether Jim has now turned respectable and sombre is impossible to say without reading the book. |
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