Yn Mapio Ffilmiau Cymreig fel ‘an Irish Shangra-La’ / Mapping Cinematic Wales as ‘an Irish Shangra-La’

Pictured above: New Welsh Film Book by Dr. Gwenno Ffrancon Jenkins, Swansea University

In her recent book, 'Cyfaredd y Cysgodion - Delweddu Cymru a'i Phobl ar Ffilm, 1935 – 1951', film scholar Gwenno Ffrancon Jenkins points to the ‘othering’ of the Welsh by director John Ford in the film How Green was My Valley (1941).

Ford adapted an indigenous Welsh novel by author Richard Llewellyn, but directed and cast the script in such a way to create not a Welsh story, but an Irish story in a Welsh motif, what Berry has called ‘an Irish Shangra-La’ (Berry 1994: 17).

Ffrancon Jenkins reflects this in her statement:

'mai ffilm am Gymru drwy lygaid a lleisiau Gwyddelig a gynhyrchwyd yn y diwedd . . . A dyma un o'i diffygion pennaf.'

'It is a film on Wales through the Irish eyes and voices and direction right to the end.' (Ffrancon-Jenkins 2003: 18) [all Welsh to English translations by the author of this study, unless otherwise noted].

So in Ffrancon Jenkins’ opinion, Ford has rendered the Welsh as ‘contributors’ to his Irish fable, similarly to the ‘primitive’ but proper Welshwomen-known-as-Englishwomen in ‘Outsider’ François Truffaut’s film 'Les Deux Anglaises et le Continent' (1971), and she writes about ‘Welsh Cinematic Outsider’ Ford’s characterization of the Welsh people:

"Y canlyniad yw ‘darluniau afreal’ o'r Cymry fel ‘simple, primitive people’."

"Consequently it is an ‘unreal portrayal’ of the Welsh as ‘simple, primitive people.’" (Ffrancon-Jenkins 2003: 19)

Ford based his film upon Llewellyn’s novel. Llewellyn was a Welshman born into the London Welsh Diaspora, and he did sufficient ‘cultural tourism’ while visiting his grandfather in the South Wales mining community of Gilfach-goch, to base his novel on this village.

So while Ford and Llewellyn are both ‘Outsiders’ to varying degrees, Llewellyn is an important type of ‘Insider’ who went away from Wales and became an ‘Outsider’ (as a scriptwriter for the American studio, MGM), which permitted him to peddle his narrative wares to the global, cinematic imperial powers in Hollywood, in this case the iconic John Ford, best known for his Hollywood Westerns.

'Cyfaredd y Cysgodion - Delweddu Cymru a'i Phobl ar Ffilm, 1935 – 1951' is a thorough and highly readable social and cultural study of the influence of the cinema on the lives of Welsh people between 1935 and 1951, and how Wales and her people have been portrayed by film makers. 25 black-and-white illustrations.

Mae 'Cyfaredd y Cysgodion - Delweddu Cymru a'i Phobl ar Ffilm, 1935 – 1951' astudiaeth gymdeithasol a diwylliannol drylwyr a hynod ddarllenadwy o ddylanwad y sinema ar fywyd pobl Cymru rhwng 1935 a 1951, ac ar y modd y delweddwyd Cymru a'i phobl gan wneuthurwyr ffilm. 25 llun du-a-gwyn.

‘Robustly historical view of Welsh cinematic heritage . . . the first social and industrial study of the formative years of the genre in Wales . . . Gwenno Ffrancon has used every archive available to her, and she treats the ‘unknown’ with a great deal of empathy and understanding . . . this volume certainly succeeds in rediscovering the beginnings of the ‘forgetting chambers’ in Wales.’ (New Welsh Review)

Y mae Gwenno Ffrancon, brodor o Flaen-plwyf ger Aberystwyth, yn ddarlithydd ffilm yn Adran Cyfathrebu a’r Cyfryngau, Prifysgol Cymru, Bangor.

Gan Gwales: 'All neb ddadlau â honiad y broliant fod hon yn 'gyfrol arloesol'. Mae'r ymdriniaeth drylwyr, ddychmygus, amlonglog hon â detholiad o ffilmiau o Gymru ac am Gymru rhwng 1935 a 1951 yn gamp gyflawn ynddi'i hun, ond y mae hefyd yn agor maes enfawr a chyfoethog i eraill ymchwilio ynddo . . .'

'Mae hi'n gyfrol a fydd o ddiddordeb i rychwant llydan o ddarllenwyr, ond yr hyn sy'n rhoi rhuddin iddi yw ysgolheictod gadarn ac ymchwil fanwl ei hawdur.'

'Mae'r rhestr ffynonellau ar ddau gyfandir yn tystio i barodrwydd Gwenno Ffrancon i fynd yr ail a'r drydedd filltir er mwyn medru llunio darlun mor gynhwysfawr, mor gyflawn ei gyd-destunau â phosibl o'i phwnc. Mae ei gallu i wisgo het y beirniad ffilm a het yr hanesydd diwylliannol gyda'r un argyhoeddiad yn ei galluogi i wneud cyfiawnder â'i thestun.’

www.gwales.com

Cardiff School of Creative & Cultural Industries

mwoods[at]glam[dot]ac[dot]uk

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© 2007 Mark Leslie Woods

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