The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain Information & The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain Links at HealthHaven.com

The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain
	; Promotional movie poster for the film
Directed by	Christopher Monger
Produced by	Bob Weinstein; Harvey Weinstein; Sarah Curtis; Sally Hibbin; Robert Jones; Scott Maitland; Paul Sarony
Written by	Ivor Monger
Starring	Hugh Grant; Ian McNeice; Tara Fitzgerald; Colm Meaney; Kenneth Griffith;
Music by	Stephen Endelman
Cinematography	Vernon Layton
Editing by	David Martin
Distributed by	Miramax Films
Release date(s)	United States; May 12, 1995; United Kingdom; August 4, 1995; Australia; October 26, 1995
Running time	99 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain is a 1995 film written by Ivor Monger and directed by Christopher Monger. It was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival.^[1]

[edit] 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 neighbouring Garth Hill. Due to 20th century urbanisation of the area, it was filmed in the more rural Llanrhaeadr-ym-Mochnant and Llansilin in Mid Wales.

[edit] Plot

The movie is set in 1917 (with World War I in the background) and revolves around two English cartographers, 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 a hill 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 earth cairn 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, a comedy film written and directed by Kirk Jones.

[edit] 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 Jones
John Collins as Pete 'Smiler' Moore

[edit] Reception

The film currently holds a 55% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

[edit] Excerpt

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 bethyngalw." In Welsh, bethyngalw has the same meaning as the word "whatchamacallit" or "thingamajig." (This is, however, explained in the novel the film is based on.)

[edit] See also

Mynydd Graig Goch a member of the Moel Hebog group of summits. This is a Snowdonia hill that became a mountain in September 2008 when it was measured by three Welshmen with GPS equipment and found to be six inches taller than previously thought.^[2].^[3]

[edit] References

^ "Festival de Cannes: The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain". festival-cannes.com. http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/3597/year/1995.html. Retrieved 2009-09-07.
^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/north_west/7623904.stm
^ http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/sep/19/wales

[edit] External links

The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain at the Internet Movie Database
The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain at Allmovie
Englishman Who Went Up A Hill – Backsights Magazine (Surveyors Historical Society), originally published in Professional Surveyor, Nov./Dec. 1998

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain

[festival-cannes.com-0] "Festival de Cannes: The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain". festival-cannes.com. http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/3597/year/1995.html. Retrieved 2009-09-07.

[1] ttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/north_west/7623904.stm

[2] ttp://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/sep/19/wales

[1]

[2]

[3]

Contents