Twin Town in the Drwm
As a nation we pride ourselves on the things that put Wales on the global map. Tom Jones. Sheep. Proud Valley. Rugby. Male Voice Choirs. Daffodils. Coal. Slate. Ryan Giggs. Good old Shirley Bassey. One film in particular put Wales on the map, yet you aren't likely to find a mention of it amongst the usual cliches, icons and images: Twin Town. The film will be screened at the DRWM on the 7th of October, in the company of scriptwriter Paul Durden and actor Huw Ceredig.Set amongst the Swansea dispossessed, in a town dubbed "the graveyard of ambition" by Dylan Thomas, Twin Town was hyped as the Welsh Trainspotting, a chaotic drug fuelled warts-n-all perspective on Welsh life. Starring real life brothers, Llŷr Evans and Rhys Ifans, as the 'Lewis Twins', the blackly comic film-noir follows their antics in an ever-escalating cycle of violence and revenge against the local Taffia boss Bryn Cartwright. They take revenge after their father (Fatty Lewis, played by Huw Ceredig) breaks his leg falling off a ladder doing a construction job for Cartwright, who refuses to offer any kind of compensation.
Although not an instant hit at the box office (yet voted third most popular Welsh film by Cambrian News readers), like Trainspotting, Twin Town became a sleeper hit via subsequent video and DVD sales. As such not many have been privileged to see the feature on the big screen. But the audience at the DRWM will be given a second chance not only to view the film on the silver screen, but also to meet those involved in creating this frantic feature. Joining us in the DRWM will be Twin Town's scriptwriter Paul Durden along with the actor Huw Ceredig, who's most recognisable in Wales as the dearly departed Reg Harris in Pobol y Cwm. Ceredig delivers an excellent performance in this film as the hapless father, Fatty Lewis. Fatty is the antithesis of the respected patriarch of so many Welsh and British films, prone to as many abusive outbursts as his foul-mouthed offspring - the drug dealing 'twins' and a prostitute daughter.
Twin Town isn't for the easily offended, hence the 18 Certificate, it's the cinematic equivalent of Marmite - you either love it or hate it. There is enough violence in this film to make Tarantino blush - dog lovers you have been warned! This film makes the body count of Hamlet look discreet. The language of the film isn't for the faint hearted either; there are something like 500 uses of the "f" word, or one of its permutations. This film isn't trying to be nice, as one critic noted: "the characters are scum and the world is their bucket". But the film does echo the obsoleteness of traditionalism in Wales - does Tom Jones etc. hold any relevance to us living in Wales today? Food for thought.
This film is raw and full of energy, symbolised by the roaring engine of the stolen BMW in the opening sequences. It's frantic pacing offers us little pause for thought, almost coercing us into sharing the dubious values of the seedy characters, which also include a drug-dealing granny and a bent copper. Not one character in the film has a gleaming attribute, but this is what makes the film so good - it isn't trying to pander to the needs of the audience, as a critic noted, "the movie p*sses on the notion of caring about anything or anyone". Yet although the film questions the importance of traditional notions of Welshness, the concluding sequences of the male voice choir singing Myfanwy suggest maybe there's a time and place for traditions after all.
Notes:
Twin Town (18)
- Thursday 7th October 7.30pm
- Tickets: £5 / Box Office: 01970 632 548