The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain

 (Comedy -- Color -- British)

By LEONARD KLADY

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A Miramax release of a Parallax Pictures production. Produced by Sarah Curtis. Executive producers, Sally Hibbin, Robert Jones, Bob Weinstein, Harvey Weinstein. Directed, written by Christopher Monger, based on his novel.
 
Reginald Anson - Hugh Grant
Betty of Cardiff - Tara FitzGerald
Morgan the Goat - Colm Meaney
George Garrad - Ian McNeice
Johnny Shellshocked - Ian Hart
Reverend Robert Jones - Kenneth Griffith
Thomas Twp - Tudor Vaughn Thomas
Twp, Too - Hugh Vaughn

 

The Cannes-bound "The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain, " is a flyweight, if well-crafted, load of malarkey with charm to burn. Rather in the vein of a vintage Ealing comedy, the tale of eccentric country folk confronting slightly stodgy civil servants comes off as an amusing anachronism. The film is unquestionably for a specialized few with no more than modest theatrical prospects.

The nostalgic tone is evident in the film's gentle nature and softly subdued images. It is framed as a reminiscence, bookended by a young boy's query about the man known in the Welsh village as "The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill ..." Even in the small hamlet where people seem to have lost family names in favor of descriptives such as "Davies the School" or "Evans the End of the World," it is unusual in both length and impenetrability.

The title character is Reginald Anson (Hugh Grant), a cartographer sent to Wales in 1917 to officially map out the terrain. The villagers take particular pride that the country's "first mountain" looms above them. But when Anson and colleague George Garrad (Ian McNeice) return with news that their mountain, Ffynnon Garw, is in fact a hill, civility becomes unusually strained.

The government has de-creed that rises of more than 1,000 feet will be designated as mountains. According to the pair's measurements, Ffynnon Garw is 984 feet high.

Shock promptly turns to outrage and anger, but luckily, the locals have long since given up the tradition of lynching. Coercion, subtle or otherwise, also proves to be a dead end. So, the only viable solution to the dilemma is to tear up the Earth and assist Mother Nature with another 20 feet.

It's obvious that writer-director Christopher Monger loves the loreof his homeland; he gives his film the quality of a tale told with relish 'round the campfire. However, no amount of gussying-up can disguise its narrative modesty.

The skilled ensemble delights in the shaggy-dog antics. Grant, though a gifted farceur, is cast effectively as a callow romantic who goes native. Tara FitzGerald, as Betty of Cardiff, draws him out for the sake of local pride but, not surprisingly, something more sincere evolves.

The closest this whimsy comes to social reality stems from the deep-seeded war between town conscience Rev. Jones (Kenneth Griffith) and publican Morgan the Goat (Colm Meaney). It's playfully chronicled by the two actors. And, naturally, the monumental task of saving the town's honor makes them odd bedfellows.

The production itself is an impressive and handsome endeavor. Especially arresting is the production design team led by Charles Garrad and the stunning visual display of cameraman Vernon Layton.

"Englishman's" a well-bred, diverting idyll. In the current shark-infested marketplace, that bodes ill for longevity.

Camera (color, widescreen), Vernon Layton; editor, David Martin; music, Stephen Endelman; production design, Charles Garrad; art direction, Chris Lowe; costume design, Janty Yates; sound (Dolby), George Richards; associate producer, Paul Sarony; assistant director, David Daniels; casting, Michelle Guish. Reviewed at Raleigh Studios, L.A., April 17, 1995. (In Cannes Film Festival -- Un Certain Regard.) MPAA Rating: PG. Running Time: 99 min.