On the Black Hill (film)

1987 film by Andrew Grieve

On the Black Hill

Directed by| Andrew Grieve
Produced by| Jennifer Howarth
Starring|

* Bob Peck
* Gemma Jones
* Mike Gwilym
* Robert Gwilym

Cinematography| Thaddeus O'Sullivan
Edited by| Scott Thomas

Release date

| 1987

Running time

| 117 minutes
Country| United Kingdom
Language| English
Budget| £639,000[1]

On the Black Hill is a 1987 film directed by Andrew Grieve, based upon the novel of the same name by Bruce Chatwin.[2]

Although Bruce Chatwin initially considered his novel about 80 years of rural family life in the Welsh border country unfilmable, he changed his mind when he saw how keen director Andrew Grieve was to make it and they went together to see some of the places and meet some of the people that Chatwin had been inspired by. Chatwin told Grieve to use the book for his film and make it his own.[3]

## Plot[edit]

On the Black Hill begins in the closing years of the 19th century with the marriage of dour, puritanical Welsh farmer Amos Jones (Bob Peck) to his social superior, vicar’s daughter Mary Latimer (Gemma Jones) after the death of her father (Mark Dignam). Her inheritance and social connections enable them to rent a vacant farm, 'The Vision', a situation that is a cause for resentment in their relationship. It is against this background, along with a boundary feud with Watkins, a malicious neighbour, that the twins Lewis (Robert Gwilym) and Benjamin (Mike Gwilym) grow up. Having come through wars, romance and separation, they are still farming at 'The Vision' eighty years later.

## Cast[edit]

* Bob Peck as Amos Jones
* Gemma Jones as Mary Jones (née Latimer)
* Mike Gwilym as Benjamin Jones
* Robert Gwilym as Lewis Jones
* Nicola Beddoe as Rosie
* Patrick Godfrey as The Auctioneer
* Catherine Schell as Lotte Zons
* Benjamin Whitrow as Arkwright
* Eric Wyn as Tom Watkins

## Production[edit]

Bob Peck as the gaunt, wild-eyed Amos Jones dominates the early scenes, though he is well matched by Gemma Jones as his wife Mary. With typical thoroughness, Peck immersed himself in the part, learning to ride, plough and pleach hedges.

Although the film was made on a tight budget, the director had time to scout out appropriate locations in the area. "We spent far longer researching the locations than we would normally and it was the quality of the landscape and the discovery of the perfect farmhouse at Llanfihangel Nant Brân near Sennybridge which was critical to its success," said Grieve at a screening of the film at Borderlines Film Festival in 2006.

In fact, locations throughout the Welsh borders were used for the film, notably The Black Mountains, Hay-on-Wye and Crickhowell. Props and furniture for the film were borrowed from people and houses in the area and even the local WI was used to knit garments appropriate to the period. All of this firmly locates the film in its region and, as Grieve says, gives it a strong sense of reality. Grieve was brought up in mid Wales and so his understanding of the region and its people was crucial to the film’s atmosphere. The cinematography, by Thaddeus O'Sullivan, has been widely acclaimed.

## References[edit]

1. ^ "Back to the Future: The Fall and Rise of the British Film Industry in the 1980s - An Information Briefing" (PDF). British Film Institute. 2005. p. 27.
2. ^ "On The Black Hill (1987)". BFI Screenonline. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
3. ^ Grieve, Andrew: "Revisiting the Black Hill", booklet accompanying Film First's February 2008 release of the DVD.

## External links[edit]

* On the Black Hill at IMDb

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Golden Shell

1953–1975|

* I Was a Parish Priest (1953)
* Sierra maldita (1954)
* Days of Love (1955)
* The Railroad Man (1956)
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* Ewa chce spac (1958)
* The Nun's Story (1959)
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* America America (1964)
* Golden Queen / Mirage (1965)
* I Was Happy Here (1966)
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* The Long Day's Dying (1968)
* The Rain People (1969)
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* Badlands (1974)
* Furtivos (1975)

1976–2000|

* Gypsies Are Found Near Heaven (1976)
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* Demons in the Garden (1982)
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* Yesterday (1985)
* Half of Heaven (1986)
* Wedding in Galilee (1987)
* On the Black Hill (1988)
* Homer and Eddie / La nación clandestina (1989)
* Letters from Alou (1990)
* Butterfly Wings (1991)
* A Place in the World (1992)
* The Beginning and the End / Sara (1993)
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* Bwana / Trojan Eddie (1996)
* The Swindle (1997)
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2001–present|

* A Cab for Three (2001)
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* Gun-shy (2003)
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Bruce Chatwin

Non-fiction|

* In Patagonia (1977)
* The Songlines (1987)

Novels|

* The Viceroy of Ouidah (1980)
* On the Black Hill (1982)
* Utz (1988)

Collections|

* What Am I Doing Here (1988)
* Photographs and Notebooks (1993)
* Anatomy of Restlessness (1997)
* Winding Paths (1998)

Adaptations|

* Cobra Verde (1987)
* On the Black Hill (1987)
* Utz (1992)
* Nomad: In the Footsteps of Bruce Chatwin (2019)

Related|

* Moleskine

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