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To say it is delightful would be misleading, as this deep study of the underbelly of a small fishing village is about a peculiar kind of nationalism that is both celebratory and critical. What makes it such a great experience is how the language grabs you, and you have to listen to every word, so it is intense.
The linking of the text and the imagery is seamless, with the narrator (Burton), seemingly present in the town at the beginning of spring to have carnal knowledge of a former girlfriend, and his companion observing as outsiders and eavesdropping on the town over a twenty-four hour period, dipping into the thoughts, reminiscences and dreams of the townsfolk.
Like the narrator, a retired, blind sea captain (O'Toole) sits at his window, with acute hearing absorbing all the details that escape others with eyes and too busy to notice, divining the motivations of the people around him and living in deep nostalgia for his departed crew and lover, the former town prostitute (Taylor).
So the film is built around a series of vignettes, mostly interchanging between the two, and it flows beautifully, from night to day to night again.
Since Dylan Thomas died in 1953, and this was one of his later works, the world he describes is fifty years old and seems somewhat quaint today. But his rich language on occasions soars with the romance of feeling for the beauty of his nativeland (the vicar's morning address to the town, with nobody listening, is just wonderful), and love of its people.
Nevertheless, in relating the sexual dreams and activities of the town and the world of men and women a touch of gothic intrudes. There are oppositions at play between the open-hearted, sexually generous women and the close-minded wives, the ecstatic Organ Morgan the church organist and his petty wife, "a martyr for music", the mischievious butcher's subversions, numerous attractions and solicitations between adults and the budding sexuality of the young, the unrequited love of Sinbad the barman from the Sailor's Arms, and an unscrupulous postman and his nosey-parker wife.
The portrait Thomas paints of Milk Wood is tainted by his own world-view, resentful of the Church, the lack of ambition and other provincialities. There's an amazing amount of activity in the town, apart from its economy, lots of drinking, fornicating and song, but despite the evidence of bad-blood the community seems to thrive on love and an underlying generosity of heart that allows for the bounty that all life brings.
This may well be Burton's greatest artistic offering in his long career, thanks to the screenplay and direction of Andrew Sinclair.
The film adds quite unnecessary extras to the original, in an attempt to give the text some sort of rational context. When listening to the play we can quite happily accept the narrators (First Voice and Second Voice) as disembodied observers. In the film there are awkward contrivances such as a coachload of sightseers and Burton meeting a girlfriend for a quick bonk in the afternoon to explain the narrators' presence. It's not just that those additions are instrusively out of context, but far worse they waste precious time which could be spent savouring the magnificent words of Dylan Thomas!
Of course, the basics are still there. No amount of sometimes clumsy images will destroy the glory of the original text, or the joy of listening to Burton and many of the other characters. If you love language, don't miss experiencing Under Milkwood in any and every way you can, even this version. But best of all sit back, close your eyes, listen to all the glorious, tumbling, entrancing words of one of the audio versions (both those of Richard Burton and Anthony Hopkins are worth owning) and give your imagination free rein.
Its let down in two ways though. Liz Taylor seems to be in the film for no reason whatsever and her dress, makeup and performance make so little concession to the film it almost looks like footage from another movie has been cut and pasted in.
The other is that as a 'play for words' the sound just isn't sharp enough and alot of the richness of the dialogue can be lost.
For those flaws its still quite and odd and enjoyable film but I wouldn't make it your only experience of the play. Listen the the radio play first and watch this second.
Occasionally jarred when certain characters didn't fit with my internal image of them but I... Read more
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