Karl Francis Movies
- 2007
This gritty and occasionally brutal drama from Wales concerns a Welsh doctor and his Madagascan nurse girlfriend whose lives have become hopelessly entwined with the global slave-trafficking trade. When the doctor gets gunned down in the midst of a nasty and ugly civil war, the nurse makes the long pilgrimage to Cardiff to sprinkle the ashes of the doctor (who loved rugby) over the Millennium Stadium. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi
- 2000
The troubled career of blacklisted director Herbert Biberman, who endured a considerable struggle to make the 1954 pro-Labor film Salt of the Earth, provides the centerpiece for this historical drama. The film opens at the 1937 Academy Awards, where Biberman's wife, Gale Sondergaard (Greta Scacchi), wins the first ever "Best Supporting Actress" Oscar. Although the anti-Fascist sentiment in her acceptance speech gets her labeled a "commie" by some observers, she and Biberman (played here by Jeff Goldblum) are placed under contract at Warner Bros. Ten years later, with Cold War paranoia growing, a group of predominantly Jewish Hollywood directors -- Biberman, Sondergaard, Danny Kaye, and Dalton Trumbo among them -- are labeled Communists and questioned before Congress. Refusing to name names, Biberman is thrown in prison for six months; his wife's similar refusal to testify severely threatened her career as well. After his release from prison, Biberman, no longer able to work in Hollywood, strikes out on his own with other blacklistees, producer Paul Jarrico (John Sessions) and writer Michael Wilson (Geraint Wyn Davies), to make Salt of the Earth. Biberman's production is far from easy, however, as it comes under attack from both the FBI and redneck vigilantes. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jeff Goldblum, Greta Scacchi, (more)
- 1997
Created by Rob Gittins and William Jones, the British soap opera Tiger Bay was intended as a Welsh variation on the popular Eastenders. The story was set in the seaside Cardiff community of Tiger Bay, which had been suffering for years under an economic recession. The drama was centered around the local citizens' reactions to a possible upsurge in their financial situations. Eight 50-minute episodes of Tiger Bay were carried by BBC Wales beginning July 21, 1997; unfortunately, the series did not catch on as intended, and a proposed second batch of eight shows was quietly abandoned. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1995
This British drama offers a gritty slice from the life of a hard-working Welsh single-mother. The story is set in the Rhondda Valley in southern Wales and follows the travails of young Jo, the mother of a young daughter. Jo works in a sweatshop as an ironer. Though she is rather poor, she has a good life. Her lover is Kevin, who is married. In her spare time, Jo studies. Recently she just moved into her own apartment in a project after spending several years with her slovenly father. To supplement her meager income, Jo sometimes models, and does the occasional phone sex gig. She uses part of this extra money to help out her troubled little sister, Andrea, a heroin addict. Jo's life begins to fall apart when she learns that she is 15-weeks pregnant. Upon hearing this, her charming lover, Kevin, backs off. She then discovers that he has also been sleeping with one of her friends. Then she hears that Andrea was nearly arrested and simultaneously, her mother becomes deathly ill. Jo knows that she cannot legally get an abortion, and so decides to take another course. With little self-pity or remorse, she conceals the pregnancy, bears the child in the woods, and promptly kills it. She then goes back to resume her life. Unfortunately, her troubles are not over, for the police find the infant's corpse floating in a river and launch a massive search for the murderous mother. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- 1992
Set in Wales a few hundred years ago, Rebecca's Daughters stars Paul Rhys as an aristocratic member of the ruling class. Rhys is not happy with the way that the members of his social order, particularly dissipated nobleman Peter O'Toole, are taxing the Welsh peasants into nonexistence. Thus, he decides to become a man of the people-or, more accurately, a woman of the people. Disguising himself as a crusading female named Rebecca, Rhys leads a peasant revolt against the aristocracy. No, of course this isn't meant to be taken seriously. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Peter O'Toole, Paul Rhys, (more)
- 1990
This unrelieved melodrama examines the nature of a child's experience of a domineering, volatile alcoholic parent. It is based on an autobiographical account by Carol-Ann Courtney. At first, the girl has some diversion from her intense and frightening relationship with her father in the person of her maternal grandmother, but that outlet is soon closed when her father bans her from their home. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Patrick Bergin, Sue Roderick, (more)
- 1989
Some of the conditions which prompted the development of the United Kingdom's Socialist party (and some radical political movements) are explored in this quasi-biographical historical drama, which goes into the harsh life experienced by one woman who lived and worked in a Welsh coal mining town at the end of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth centuries. In the story, Gwen (Sue Roderick) marries a miner, who is killed in the mines. Death in the mines is common, and the mining companies were not in the habit of paying any kind of compensation to the dead miners' survivors. Desperate for money to survive with, she takes the gruesome job of preparing miner's corpses for burial. Despite a seemingly endless succession of difficulties, Gwen somehow survives to become (as seen at the beginning of the film) "the oldest woman in Great Britain," greeted by the Queen and celebrated in the press. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Mark Lewis Jones
- 1986
- R
A young British soldier stationed in war-torn Northern Ireland kills an Irish rebel in self-defense and finds himself thrown into a hellish ordeal when the very authorities who sanctioned his actions suddenly change and decide to use him as a scapegoat to keep others from making the same mistake in this powerful, provocative British film. Welshman Wil Thomas joins the British army in hopes of escaping the poverty of his hometown and proves to be an honest and dutiful soldier. After the killing he is immediately taken back to England, tried, and, despite his vigorous protestations of innocence, thrown into the brig. There he is brutalized, harassed and denied medical attention. As he continues to fight to prove his innocence and endure the many indignities, the situation leading to his incarceration is presented via flashback. Also chronicled is his brief affair with an Irish Catholic woman who breaks up with him when she realizes that he belongs to the army. He later learns that she paid a horrible price for their relationship. He also reflects upon the orders of his sergeant who gave them permission to use force on the rebels and to defend themselves from attacks. Back in the present, cruel corporal Bernard Latham begins taking a special interest in tormenting Thomas. Still Thomas staunchly refuses to crack. Meanwhile his former sergeant launches a campaign to help his former friend. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Richard Lynch, Dafydd Hywel, (more)
- 1984
In this British-made Welsh language film, a young alcoholic spends his life drinking booze. Despite the fact that it is ruining his life, the man cannot stop. In the end he truly hits bottom and loses his job and his family. In desperation he seeks the advice of a friend who involves him in Alcoholics Anonymous. The Welsh title of the film means The Happy Alcoholic in English. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Dafydd Hywel, Gwenllian Davies, (more)
- 1982
Comparatively unknown, the British And Nothing But the Truth is a blistering indictment of government-sanctioned corruption, as well as the "facts of life" of the television industry. Filmmaker Glenda Jackson and reporter Jon Finch head to South Wales, where a farm family has taken on the local village government. Accusations have been raised that a powerful corporation has (within legal limits) bribed the village to permit encroachment upon local farm land. In pursuit of the truth, Jackson and Finch are subjected to character assassination and overt threats. Only gradually do they discover that their own bosses are also on the take. And Nothing But the Truth was originally titled Giro City. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Glenda Jackson, Jon Finch, (more)
- 1981
This provocative film, based on a short story by Dylan Thomas, is set in Wales during the turmoil of WW I. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- 1936
Schlussakkord (released in the U.S. as Final Accord) is the melancholy tale of a young mother who leaves her child behind in Germany to join her no-good husband in America. Hubby eventually kills himself, rendering the heroine all alone in the world. Meanwhile, her son is adopted by a kindly orchestra conductor and grows up in an atmosphere of luxury and love. In the tradition of East Lynne, the conscience-stricken mother contrives to get a job as a governess in the orchestra leader's home, hoping to be nearer her son -- but never intending to reveal her true identity. The story takes a startling turn when the woman falls in love with the conductor, whereupon both are implicated in a nasty murder case. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Lil Dagover, Willy Birgel, (more)
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