- The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain
Infobox Film
name = The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain
caption = Promotional movie poster for the film
director =Christopher Monger
producer =Bob Weinstein Harvey Weinstein
Sarah Curtis
Sally Hibbin
Robert Jones
Scott Maitland
Paul Sarony
writer = Ivor Monger
starring =Hugh Grant Ian McNeice Tara Fitzgerald Colm Meaney Kenneth Griffith
music = Stephen Endelman
cinematography = Vernon Layton
editing = David Martin
distributor =Miramax Films
released = flagicon|France May, 1995 (Cannes Film Festival)
flagicon|USMay 12 , 1995
flagicon|UKAugust 4 , 1995
flagicon|AustraliaOctober 26 , 1995
flagicon|GermanyJanuary 11 ,1996
flagicon|JapanMay 11 , 1996
runtime = 99 min.
country = UK
language = English
amg_id = 1:134689
imdb_id = 0112966"The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain" is a 1995 movie written by
Ivor Monger and directed byChristopher Monger .Details
The movie is based on a story heard by Christopher Monger from his grandfather about the real village of
Taff's Well ("Ffynnon Taf" in Welsh),Rhondda Cynon Taff ,Wales and its neighbouringGarth Mountain . Due to 20th century urbanisation of the area, it was filmed in the more ruralLlanrhaeadr-ym-Mochnant andLlansilin inMid Wales .Plot
The movie is set in 1917 (with
World War I in the background) and revolves around two Englishcartographer s, the pompous Garrad and his junior, Anson, who arrive at the fictional Welsh village of Ffynnon Garw ("Rough Fountain" in Welsh) to measure its "mountain " - only to cause outrage when they conclude that it is only ahill because it is slightly short of the required 1000 feet. The villagers, aided and abetted by the wily Morgan the Goat and the Reverend Jones (who after initially opposing the scheme, grasps its symbolism in restoring the community's war-damaged self-esteem), conspire with Anson to delay the cartographers' departure while they build an earthcairn on top of the hill to make it high enough to be considered a mountain.In regard to its humorous and affectionate description of the locals, the movie has often been compared with "
Waking Ned Devine ", a comedy film written and directed by Kirk Jones.Cast
*
Hugh Grant as Reginald Anson
*Ian McNeice as George Garrad
*Tara Fitzgerald as Betty
*Colm Meaney as Morgan the Goat
*Kenneth Griffith as Reverend Robert JonesExcerpt
One of the most obscure jokes in the film occurs when a mechanic is asked about a nondescript broken part he has removed from a car, and replies "I don't know what you call it in English, but in Welsh we call it a "bechingalw." In Welsh, "bechingalw" has the same meaning as the word "
whatchamacallit " or "thingamajig ." (This is, however, explained in the novel the film is based on.)ee also
Garth Hill , the actual hill that this movie was based on.External links
*
* [http://www.surveyhistory.org/englishman_who_went_up_a_hill.htm Englishman Who Went Up A Hill] - Backsights Magazine (Surveyors Historical Society), originally published in Professional Surveyor, Nov./Dec. 1998
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