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Solomon & Gaenor

Solomon & Gaenor

List Price: $29.95
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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Heartbreak awaits, but see it anyway.
Review: This is a chick-flick supreme, one to put in the VCR on a rainy Sunday and have a good cry to. Gorgeously atmospheric, shot in blues and greys, with a superb soundtrack that ties in both Eastern European Jewish rifts (the composer is Hungarian) and Welsh folksongs, this is an art film in the tradition of Malik's "Days of Heaven". The film is low budget by Hollywood standards, but doesn't look it thanks to the cinematography and art direction.

Superb performances all around help put the piece in it's period setting. Ioan Gruffudd takes a break from the hero to show his softer side, and Nia Roberts is positively luminous as this plain old-fashioned girl. As Solomon crumbles under the weight of his own lies and weakness, Gaenor developes a magnificent motherly strength. Other notable performances are from David Horowitz and Maureen Lippman as Soloman's parents.

The script isn't perfect, nor or the characters. Some of the twists are hard to comprehend, but that dissapates under the force of this film's emotional heart. It feels like a true story. The last fifteen minutes have a delicious Brontian atmosphere, as Solomon stumbles in the snowy wilds in a desperate attempt to reach Gaenor and set his mistakes aright. The valleys of Wales evoke that 'love on the moors/Wuthering Heights' setting.

So if you're up for a tragic romance with themes of impossible love amid social unrest, this satisfing sleeper will speak to you.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: lifeless story, lacking originality
Review: This is a love story set in Wales, England 1911. A Jewish boy falls in love with a Welsh girl to the unrelenting disapproval of both their families. The actors, particularly Gruffud, are fine in their roles, but the story is necessarily harsh in the end. It's a very Romeo and Juliet sort of doomed romanticism.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: It's the doomed Romeo & Juliet thing.
Review: This is a love story set in Wales, England 1911. A Jewish boy falls in love with a Welsh girl to the unrelenting disapproval of both their families. The actors, particularly Gruffud, are fine in their roles, but the story is necessarily harsh in the end. It's a very Romeo and Juliet sort of doomed romanticism.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: hated it
Review: This movie was just about two people who hardly knew eachothers' names and ended up sleeping together. It's only romantic because they were from opposite sides of the road. The acting was good, but I also would reccommend watching them in something other than this. Besides, how many pacmen did she have up there?

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Good Movie
Review: This movie was very sad but also very good. Ioan Gruffudd was *wonderful* in it as was Nia Roberts. The story line is well developed and written. This is a must for Romeo & Juliet lovers and couples.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A Powerful Portrait of Love and Human Nature
Review: This was a great film in two ways: first, the love story itself was beautiful and captivating--though certainly for mature audiences; and second, it was a great study of human nature. Both the Jews and the Christians could see the shortcomings in each other but failed to recognize the same behaviors in themselves.

Both actors did a great job of conveying the internal struggle they waged--their intense need for each other competing with their very real need for their familiy's approval and acceptance. It's easy to say what they should have done, but Wales in 1911 was a very different world. How many of us could face complete ostracization from all we know without hesitation?

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Lovely Altogether
Review: This was a startlingly good film. The story definitely lingers long after the last shot, and the chemistry between Nia Roberts and Ioan Gruffudd was very poignant. Highly recommended...


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