A Child's Christmas in Wales 1986 with YouTube link!

A Child's Christmas in Wales

"I can never remember whether it snowed for six days and six nights when I was twelve or whether it snowed for twelve days and twelve nights when I was six."

I watched A Child's Christmas in Wales on television the first Christmas I spent with my husband in 1987, before we were even married.  I knew he was the guy for me, because he appreciated the sweetness and beauty of this holiday classic.  Not many people even know this DVD exists, which is a shame.  Our family had the pleasure of traveling to Wales five years ago (although in the summer) and parts of Wales are still almost as rustic as in this film.  In fact, this was filmed on location in Montgomery Wales, which is probably little changed from when Dylan Thomas was a boy in Swansea.

Old Geraint telling his grandson Thomas about Christmas past...

This sweet film is based on the poem by Dylan Thomas which was first published in 1954 after his death.  It is really more like a lyrical piece of prose as only Thomas could write.  In 1986, a collaborative effort between Global TV in Canada and HTV in Britain (now known as  ITV Wales & West Ltd) brought this to television, and it was shown on PBS in the USA as well.  It is rare to see this on television anymore, so you'll have to invest in the DVD if you want to see this (a wise investment for years to come...)

"One Christmas was so much like another, in those years..."

"December, in my memory, is white as Lapland, though there were no reindeers. But there were cats. Patient, cold and callous, our hands wrapped in socks, we waited to snowball the cats."

"It's loovely Grandad."

The Welsh scenery is gorgeous and lets you feel as if you are truly traveling back in time.  The film is a combination of present day (well, 27 years ago) and flashbacks to what looks like the time period just before WWI.  The children all have authentic Welsh accents, although I believe the adults are all Canadian actors except of course the wonderful Denholm Elliott (Raiders of the Lost Ark, Trading Places, Room with a View) who was English, but does a wonderful Welsh accent.

"...once I had a little crocheted nose bag from an aunt now, alas, no longer whinnying with us."

The music will also stay with you after watching this, particularly from the cozy scene at the end, where the family are all singing by the fire, quaint Welsh carols like "On To Bethlehem Town" and "All Through the Night".

"Our snow was not only shaken from white wash buckets down the sky, it came shawling out of the ground..."

This post is a rerun from a few years ago but I have added the YouTube link below for those who don't have this on DVD. This gorgeous, funny and heartwarming production deserves a much wider audience. It has aged well. Enjoy an old fashioned Christmas with some mischievous boys in Wales!

Click for the full text of the Dylan Thomas Poem A Child's Christmas in Wales.

A Child's Christmas In Wales 1987

A Child's Christmas in Wales

"I can never remember whether it snowed for six days and six nights when I was twelve or whether it snowed for twelve days and twelve nights when I was six."

I watched this on television the first Christmas I spent with my husband in 1987, before we were even married.  I knew he was the guy for me, because he appreciated the sweetness and beauty of this holiday classic.  Not many people even know this DVD exists, which is a shame.  Our family had the pleasure of traveling to Wales five years ago (although in the summer) and parts of Wales are still almost as rustic as in this film.  In fact, this was filmed on location in Montgomery Wales, which is probably little changed from when Dylan Thomas was a boy in Swansea.
 

Old Geraint telling his grandson Thomas about Christmas past...

This sweet film is based on the poem by Dylan Thomas which was first published in 1954 after his death.  It is really more like a lyrical piece of prose as only Thomas could write.  In 1987, a collaborative effort between Global TV in Canada and HTV in Britain (now known as  ITV Wales & West Ltd) brought this to television, and it was shown on PBS in the USA as well.  It is rare to see this on television anymore, so you'll have to invest in the DVD if you want to see this (a wise investment for years to come...)

"One Christmas was so much like another, in those years..."

"December, in my memory, is white as Lapland, though there were no reindeers. But there were cats. Patient, cold and callous, our hands wrapped in socks, we waited to snowball the cats."

"It's loovely Grandad."

The Welsh scenery is gorgeous and lets you feel as if you are truly traveling back in time.  The film is a combination of present day (well, 23 years ago) and flashbacks to what looks like the time period just before WWI.  The children all have authentic Welsh accents, although I believe the adults are all Canadian actors except of course the wonderful Denholm Elliott (Raiders of the Lost Ark, Trading Places, Room with a View) who was English, but does a wonderful Welsh accent.

"...once I had a little crocheted nose bag from an aunt now, alas, no longer whinnying with us."

The music will also stay with you after watching this, particularly from the cozy scene at the end, where the family are all singing by the fire, quaint Welsh carols like "On To Bethlehem Town" and "All Through the Night".

"Our snow was not only shaken from white wash buckets down the sky, it came shawling out of the ground..."

As I was watching this tonight (research, you know) both my 16 year old son and my husband made their way into the room where I was and watched the last half with me.  Well, this has really gotten me into the Christmas spirit.  I will try to hold onto this feeling as I finish my Christmas shopping this weekend (fingers crossed) and not get caught up in the things that don't matter.  Happy Holidays!

N.B.  The screen captures above were borrowed from a beautiful blog sweetsundaymornings.blogspot.com

Click for the full text of the Dylan Thomas Poem A Child's Christmas in Wales.


The above post is a rerun again from last year (sorry, but I thought it was worth another run, and I have not quite finished with the feasting, visiting and general excesses of the season. I'll be back to the blogging again soon, but in the meantime, I hope you enjoyed the above).

A Room with a View- 1985

Helena Bonham-Carter as Lucy Honeychurch in A Room with a View

Do you know what the problem with movies on TV is? Other than the stupid commercial breaks of course. The problem is that you think you have seen a movie and you haven't really seen it at all!

Helena Bonham-Carter and Julian Sands in A Room with a View

I thought I had seen A Room with a View. How much of it I had actually seen I really don't know. I saw the parts with the pensione. I saw the part with the fight in the square and Lucy fainting. I saw the hilarious part where the two young men are joined in their naked bathing by the naked vicar. I had definitely seen that part, even though it was on TV (must have been on City TV, the notoriously liberal Toronto station). But I hadn't really SEEN it.

A Room with a View

Well, that was remedied this week. I have now truly seen A Room with a View and I think it is wonderful. So wonderful that I now absolutely have to read the novel. For me, I think that is the ultimate compliment for an adaptation of a classic novel. In this case 26 years have not aged this production at all. No one has eighties hair and it is not done on video, but shot on location in gorgeous film. The only thing that jars is how young the actors look. Judi Dench and Maggie Smith are in their prime in this film. They are middle aged and they are gorgeous! Helena Bonham-Carter is nearing that stage now in real life, but in this film she is the fresh faced young Lucy Honeychurch who I couldn't bear to see engage herself to the poncy Cecil Vyse played by that chameleon Daniel Day-Lewis!

A Room with a View

Well I will leave it at that, other than to say that if you haven't truly SEEN this film either, or if it has been a while since you have seen it, I highly recommend it as an alternative to the trash on TV these days. As an aside, I watched the premier of Pan Am this week on television and I have to say, I adored it. Sunday nights are now looking brighter while I wait for Downton Abbey to return for season 2!

P.S. I watched this film in it's entirety here on YouTube this week. I have seen other productions on YouTube but they are broken into 10 minute segments. This was the whole thing! Uncut! Which is how it should be watched.

P.P.S. I saw the ITV television adaptation of the novel when it aired in 2007. Andrew Davies did a very nice job as usual and I really enjoyed it. However I LOVED the older film version. Anyone else seen both? What did you think?

A Child's Christmas in Wales 1987

A Child's Christmas in Wales

"I can never remember whether it snowed for six days and six nights when I was twelve or whether it snowed for twelve days and twelve nights when I was six."

I watched this the first Christmas I spent with my husband in 1987, before we were even married.  I knew he was the guy for me, because he appreciated the sweetness and beauty of this holiday classic.  Not many people even know this DVD exists, which is a shame.  Our family had the pleasure of traveling to Wales five years ago (although in the summer) and parts of Wales are still almost as rustic as in this film.  In fact, this was filmed on location in Montgomery Wales, which is probably little changed from when Dylan Thomas was a boy in Swansea.
 

Old Geraint telling his grandson Thomas about Christmas past...

This sweet film is based on the poem by Dylan Thomas which was first published in 1954 after his death.  It is really more like a lyrical piece of prose as only Thomas could write.  In 1987, a collaborative effort between Global TV in Canada and HTV in Britain (now known as  ITV Wales & West Ltd) brought this to television, and it was shown on PBS in the USA as well.  It is rare to see this on television anymore, so you'll have to invest in the DVD if you want to see this (a wise investment for years to come...)

"One Christmas was so much like another, in those years..."

"December, in my memory, is white as Lapland, though there were no reindeers. But there were cats. Patient, cold and callous, our hands wrapped in socks, we waited to snowball the cats."

"It's loovely Grandad."

The Welsh scenery is gorgeous and lets you feel as if you are truly traveling back in time.  The film is a combination of present day (well, 23 years ago) and flashbacks to what looks like the time period just before WWI.  The children all have authentic Welsh accents, although I believe the adults are all Canadian actors except of course the wonderful Denholm Elliott (Raiders of the Lost Ark, Trading Places, Room with a View) who was English, but does a wonderful Welsh accent.

"...once I had a little crocheted nose bag from an aunt now, alas, no longer whinnying with us."

The music will also stay with you after watching this, particularly from the cozy scene at the end, where the family are all singing by the fire, quaint Welsh carols like "On To Bethlehem Town" and "All Through the Night".

"Our snow was not only shaken from white wash buckets down the sky, it came shawling out of the ground..."

As I was watching this tonight (research, you know) both my 16 year old son and my husband made their way into the room where I was and watched the last half with me.  Well, this has really gotten me into the Christmas spirit.  I will try to hold onto this feeling as I finish my Christmas shopping this weekend (fingers crossed) and not get caught up in the things that don't matter.  Happy Holidays!

N.B.  The screen captures above were borrowed with permission from a beautiful blog sweetsundaymornings.blogspot.com

Click for the full text of the Dylan Thomas Poem A Child's Christmas in Wales.