How Green was My Valley (1941)

How Green Was My Valley is a story of a poor Welsh family doing their best to survive in a changing world. It's based on the best selling 1939 novel of the same name by Richard Llewellyn. It was nominated for ten Academy Awards, winning Best Picture, Director, Cinematography, and Supporting Actor. Valley managed to beat both Citizen Kane and The Maltese Falcon for Best Picture. It is also one of Clint Eastwood's personal favorite films.

Valley is an extremely well made film that deserves its place in history. Legendary director John Ford really made a quite epic tale out of such a small topic. By the end of the picture you feel an intimacy with the Morgan family that you don't get too often in film. I enjoyed following youngest son Huw through the family's challenges and was heartbroken when he desired to be coalminer against his fathers wishes. There's a sense of community here that I can't help but smile through during each jolly song.

The problem is it just rubs me wrong in some very minor, yet frustrating ways. The film is sentimentality pesonified, and if you go in expecting anything else you're going into the wrong film. However, when some of these heartfelt beats don't land you're left waiting for the next one to get back involved in the story. It's not that it's necessarily a shallow film, I think there is a lot going on under the surface here, but for example some of the politics threw me for a loop. I try not to let politics get in the way of my views on a film's quality, and I also understand that the politics in this film is meant to exemplify changes within the community and what not. I can also appreciate the accuracy to the period in time and place. But when characters' actions are governed by rules I personally don't agree with, it becomes harder for me to identify and empathize with that character. I love the Morgan family and all of its members, and I appreciate their views on life, and I also think this is a very fine film, it just rubbed me wrong in a few minor ways that took me out of it in certain sections and so I personally enjoyed it less than I might have liked to. But otherwise I highly recommend How Green Was My Valley as a grounded, heartfelt family drama that will have you feeling like part of the community yourself.