COMING UP ROSES
A film review by Jeff Meyer
Copyright 1987 Jeff Meyer
Seen at the Seattle Film Festival: COMING UP ROSES (Great Britain, 1986) Director: Stephen Bayly Screenwriter: Ruth Carter Cast: David Hywel, Iola Gregory, Olive Michael, Mari Emlyn Subtitled
This is certainly one of the more unusual films to come along during the festival--a foreign language film shot in the heart of England. In other words, the film is about a community in Wales, and (properly) the actors speak in Welsh, with English subtitles. The story is reminiscent of the older Ealing comedies of the 1950s--it has the uniquely British low-key humor that permeated so many of Alec Guinness's and Peter Sellers's early films. It tells the story of the employees of an old movie theatre, the last of five in a Welsh mining village that is slowly dying from lack of work. The elderly owner is forced to sell it to a holding company, and the projectionist, a wonderfully honest character who has never wanted to do anything but show movies, is forced to find work elsewhere, along with the plucky concessions woman. As they both vainly try to find a job that they think is responsible, and watch their hopes of seeing the theatre refurbished and returned to its former glory die, they become more morose, until they come up with a scheme involving the vacant theatre with what they hope will allow them to make an "honorable living." This, a budding romance, some of the unlikeliest people you could mention, and the old theatre owner's last wish make for an excellent bit of drollery which fans of films like A PRIVATE FUNCTION should enjoy.
The director of the film appeared afterwards, and I admit that I enjoyed his discussion of the making of the film almost as much as the film itself. It turns out that the theatre that they used for the film was, in fact, abandoned and about to be torn down--it had been bought by the local bingo parlor so that it wouldn't provide competition. However, members of the town, in conjunction with the director, came together to get the theatre restored, and it is back in business, providing entertainment for a community where economic depression is a way of life. It is the first film ever made in Welsh, a project initiated by a government grant to create television and films for the Welsh audience. He wanted to make a film that reflected the "Welsh 'toughness of spirit'" that keeps their dignity and sense of humor in the face of intimidating day-to-day living conditions. In that, I think he has succeeded; this is both an amusing and affectionate tribute to this country.
GRADE: B for British understated humor buffs; may be less appealing to those who prefer Benny Hill to Bill Forsythe.
Moriarty, aka Jeff Meyer
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