This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.
... View MoreDon't listen to the Hype. It's awful
... View MoreThe film was still a fun one that will make you laugh and have you leaving the theater feeling like you just stole something valuable and got away with it.
... View MoreWhile it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.
... View MoreMarc Evans's "Patagonia" is one of the many movies that focuses on cultures that we don't usually see. In this case, it's Argentina's Welsh community. The movie contains two parallel stories: one is a Welsh couple that goes to Argentina to photograph the Welsh chapel in Patagonia, the other is an elderly Argentine woman who goes to Wales to see her ancestral farm. Both sets of people will have quite the experience.This is one of only two movies that I've seen in which Welsh gets spoken; the other is "Hedd Wyn", about a noted Welsh poet (both movies were the United Kingdom's submission to the Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film). Both movies cast a perceptive eye on the Welsh culture. And in this one, we get to see both the Argentine plains and the Welsh countryside. You'll probably want to go to both countries after seeing it. Outstanding movie.
... View MoreFor me, the parallel story lines worked very well. I would say though, that I might not expect non-Welsh people to enjoy this anywhere near as much. The cinematography both in Argentina and Wales is gorgeous, but the story could maybe be difficult to engage with for others. For a start, it's mostly in Welsh or Spanish. English people rarely respond well to Welsh efforts to assert their culture so don't expect any different here. The part of the story that revolve around the Llyn Celyn reservoir was unexpected and subtly done - but again I wouldn't expect English viewers to understand or respond well to this. Who wants to hear that an ancient Welsh villages were drowned so that England could have more industrial water supplies?I watched this fully expecting to be bored witless but the flipping between the two tales creates a sustainable pace and saved what could have been prosaic stories.Well done Marc Evans!
... View MoreWatched this on its Welsh TV premiere as I now live in Wales (although I am not a Welsh speaker). The film was a pleasure to watch compared to much of the Hollywood fare that is served up and is certainly worth watching.However, I have to agree with the previous reviewer that the film was ruined for my by the ridiculous endings to both stories particularly after the Grandmother died in Wales. It was completely ludicrous and ruined what could have been a much better film.On the positive side listen out for Duffy (who appears in the film) singing a Spanish version of Hope There's Someone the beautiful Antony and The Johnsons track at the very end of the film.
... View MoreThis film simply does not work. The two plot lines - unsympathetic Welsh couple travel to Patagonia and aged Argentinian lady and young chaperone travel to Wales to find the ancestral homestead - do not work in tandem at all. The Welsh couple are deeply unappealing individuals and the ending of their part of the story is both cheesy and unconvincing. Cerys, the aged lady, and her chaperone, Alejandro, are, however, attractive characters and there is some lovely gentle wit and humour that passes between them. The ending to their story is, however, equally implausible. The cinematography is good - not exceptional (the Patagonian scenery is far more interesting than the film makes out. Some of the Welsh scenery is, though, beautifully shot and captures the atmosphere of the place far better). However, this doesn't compensate at all for what is a very thin story. One can't help feeling that the Welsh IP Creative Fund, who provided funding for this, should be more rigorous. Welsh language alone really shouldn't be a justification for funding a film as disappointing as this. I wish I could be more positive, but I can't.
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