How Green Was My Valley (1941)
While being best known for his Westerns John Ford won one of his Oscar (against Citizen Kane) for this adaptation of the novel of the same name set in a Welsh coal mining valley. A young boy comes of age in a large family of Welsh miners during the Victorian era.
The plot of the film follows the destruction of not only the narrators family but also the way of life for miners of the time. Coal mining is a destructive process and the negative affect it has on the valley is a metaphor for what happens to the families of the valley themselves. Even the local church is not immune to the toxic nature of the mine as the deacons of the church use their power to shame local girls.
Due to the war it was impossible to film in Wales and supposedly there is only one Welshman in the cast but overall Ford does a very good job of reconstructing a small Welsh valley and the film is very well made. There are decent performances from the cast and not too many dodgy attempts at Welsh accents.
4/5 a great snap shot of a lost time and way of living.
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