captaind's Full Review: Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Moun...
The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain is a charming British comedy set in a small town in Wales called Ffynnon Garw, whose claim to fame is that it is home to the “First Mountain in Wales”. Now that’s first in that it is the fist mountain to be encountered within the Welsh borders, and it’s of a rather modest size. The town’s inhabitants, however, are fiercely proud of their “mountain”, being as it is a symbol of the region’s famous past of keeping out invaders. The slightly diminutive size becomes a problem, however, when two English Cartographers are sent to survey the area, and much to the horror of the locals, it turns out that their mountain might not quite be 1,000 feet - in which case, it won’t be put on the map as a mountain.
The two Englishmen, George Garrad (Ian McNeice) and Reginald Anson (Hugh Grant) find themselves surrounded by Welsh people who aren’t exactly very trusting of the English. Set in the latter part of World War I (1917 to be precise), suspicions are rife anyway, particularly in a town that has lost many of its men to the war. Ffynnon Garw (no, I can’t pronounce it very well!) is effectively run by two individuals - the aged Reverend Jones (Kenneth Griffith), who issues thunders and lightening from the pulpit every Sunday, and Morgan “the Goat” (Colm Meaney) - against whom the thunders and lightening are usually aimed. There are a surprising number of babies in Ffynnon Garw with ginger hair - and you can guess what colour hair Morgan has. However he is influential with the town-dwellers due to his strong personality and the fact that he runs the only pub for miles.
I don’t think it’s giving too much away (considering the title of the film!) to say that the “mountain” is measured as, if not a molehill, a hill just short of being high enough to be called a mountain. The villagers are furiously indignant, but determined not to give up their mountain. So, they face a threefold challenge: 1/ to add enough height to the hill to make it a mountain, 2/ to contrive to keep George and Reginald in town long enough to re-measure it afterwards, and 3/ for Reverend Jones and Morgan to actually work together to get the people organised for this huge task. This last one might actually be the most problematic, as they have barely spoken to each other for years…
There is also a love story between Betty (Tara Fitzgerald) and Reginald. There isn’t really much romance but it would have got in the way of the real story of that had been more focus in the film, so I don’t see that as a negative. Fitzgerald gives a good performance in that role and Grant is superb as the slightly foppish young Englishman who develops a love for the town and its inhabitants. Ian McNeive is equally brilliant as the ex army Major who always has a story to tell of his times in distant climes, who was moved to Cartography in Wales for the morale of his men in those distant climes, and who most definitely doesn’t fall in love with the local area. Colm Meaney is a Welshman who has made a career out of playing Irishmen - but here he’s in his natural element and perfectly cast as the roguish goat. There are some other good characters too - in particular Ian Hart as “Johnny Shellshocked” stood out.
The real story to this movie is not an Englishman, not a hill, and not even a mountain - it’s about community spirit and what it can achieve. If faith can move mountains, hard work can make them I guess. Looking at the somewhat lukewarm response given to this film on various sites, I do wonder if it requires somewhat an English sense of humour to fully enjoy it (though I know plenty of Americans on Epinions whose sense of humour is almost as British as mine!). It’s not a plot-driven story - the basic plot could really be summed up in a couple of sentences. What it does have though is great dialogue, funny scenes, very funny scenes, heart-warming scenes, and one scene that just took my breath away (for anyone that’s seen it, it’s when Johnny Shellshocked is taking a wheelbarrow full of turf up the hill [son to be mountain] near the end of the film). The music score too adds greatly to the film - not just because of its quality, but because of the sheer variety of musical styles - almost every piece has a completely different musical heritage. Much credit to Stephen Endelman for his amazing score.
There’s not a great deal of action, but there’s a pervasive gentle humour - not always gentle, mind - that puts me in mind of the great Ealing Studios comedies. It’s also only rated PG for mild language, so it’s basically a movie that the whole family can enjoy - though it will probably be a little too slow-moving for some younger ones. For me, I absolutely loved it. (I guess the fact that many people really dislike Hugh Grant stops some from liking this movie as much - for myself I’ve never disliked him as an actor and think that although he may not be a particularly versatile actor, he’s extremely good at what he does, and has been in several films that I absolutely love.)
Honestly, even if you’re not keen on Hugh Grant, give The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain a try. It’s going to go in my Top Ten British Movies and Top Ten Comedies now that I’ve finally seen it!
Oh, and if you're wondering just why it has such a long title... that is explained in the very beginning of the film!
If you happen to speak any Welsh, there are a few more jokes for you to enjoy - but I don't know how funny they might be as I don't speak any Welsh at all!! Oh well... it was funny enough as it was.
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