Hugh Grant

Tara Fitzgerald

Colm Meaney

Ian McNeice

Ian Hart

Kenneth Griffith

Tudor Vaughan

Hugh Vaughan

Robert Pugh

Robert Blythe

Garfield Morgan

Lisa Palfrey

Dafydd Wyn Roberts

Ieuan Rhys

Anwen Williams

David Lloyd Meredith

Howell Evans

Fraser Cains

Jack Walters

Harry Kretchmer

Maisie McNeice

Nicholas McGaughey

Harvey Weinstein

Charles Garrad

Sally Hibbin

Christopher Monger

Ivor Monger

David Martin

Michelle Guish

Sarah Curtis

Stephen Endelman

Robert Jones

Bob Weinstein

Paul Sarony

Scott Maitland

Vernon Layton

Liz Griffiths

Chris Lowe

Janty Yates

Ossie Jung

Annie Simpson

Tina Jones

Elinor Day

Hugh Strain

Chyna Thomson

Mervyn Loynes

Graham Headicar

Jan Pester

Jacques Leroide

Richard King

Liz Green

Kezia De Winne

Todd Kasow

David Budd

Clive Pendry

Joceline Andrews

Nicholas Brooks

Sarah Beardsall

George Richmond

Drama

Comedy

Romance

The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain

Miramax

Parallax Pictures

United Kingdom

English

Cymraeg

I don't want Ffynnon Garw to be on the map because we begged for it. 

The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain is directed by Christopher Monger and written by Ivor Monger. It stars Hugh Grant, Ian McNeice, Tara Fitzgerald, Colm Meaney and Kenneth Griffith. Music is by Stephen Endelman and cinematography by Vernon Layton.

Set in 1917, plot finds Grant and McNeice as two English cartographers who arrive in the Welsh village of Ffynnon Garw to measure what the locals proudly proclaim to be Wales' first mountain. However, it turns out that the "mountain" is 16 feet below the required 1000 feet requisite so therefore can only be classed as a hill. This news causes disgust amongst the locals, who then set about stopping the cartographers going home whilst they attempt to build atop of the hill to make it over 1000 feet.

A film with a big title that is matched by the size of its heart, Monger's film owes much to those fun community based pictures that filed out of Ealing Studios back in the 40s and 50s, Re: Whisky Galore! and The Titfield Thunderbolt. We can also safely place it the whimsy category where something as wonderful as Local Hero sits, while the old British comedy staple that encompasses an obsession with size (The Mouse That Roared) watches over the film like an approving British cinematic angel.

Homespun humour marries up with the utterly engaging view of quirky village life to provide us with just under 100 minutes of entertainment. Although clearly simple in plot and structure, to simply dismiss it as such does not do justice to the fine work of the ensemble cast and the writing of Ivor and Chris Monger. With Grant doing what he does best, the amiable nervous fop, picture has a lead actor fully comfortable with the tone and texture of the production, while around him there are a number of fine character actors putting delightful meat on the comedy bones of oddball characters with names such as Morgan the Goat, Johny Shellshock, William the Petroleum and Betty from Cardiff! Best of the bunch is Griffith as Reverend Jones, a grumpy, stubborn eccentric who underpins everything so wonderfully skew-whiff about life in Ffynnon Garw.

As for the writing? The screenplay has a wonderful ear for small village dialogue, while in amongst the value of community spirit theme, sits a near sombre observation of the effects of war on such a community. The production design is appealing, with Layton's photography around the Powys locations a visual treat, and Endelman's music has a suitably warming and jaunty feel; even if it starts to get a touch repetitive later in the piece. It doesn't have widespread appeal, it's clearly a film aimed at a small portion of film fans that love those films mentioned earlier. But in an era when film is being smothered by CGI and visual gimmickry, revisiting something like The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain offers up a most refreshing and diverting experience. 8/10

The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain (1995) Official Trailer 1 - Movie

The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain

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