|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
"The events in this film were observed in the spring and summer of 1975. The story is a simple one, but where it is the tale of one village it is also the tale of many". Karl Francis's compassionate drama-documentary focuses on the closure of Ogilvie colliery in the Rhymney Valley and its impact on the miners and their community, including one particular miner, Windsor Rees (played by himself), whose life is drawing to a close due to worsening emphysema. Using professional and amateur actors, the film examines the miners’ conflicting reactions to the expedient policies of the NCB and the National Union of Mineworkers, making incisive points about the community's pragmatism and conveying ambivalence towards the pits that have sustained that community’s life. Critical of the NCB and the unions, the film exposes the fractious interactions between politicians and union leaders, and Francis teases out arguments opening up a schism among pitmen. Michael Foot, Secretary of State for Employment, and Neil Kinnock, Labour M.P. for Bedwellty, appear in the film, attending a miners' meeting. Other films in the National Screen and Sound Archive of Wales collection, which highlight community issues and provide social commentary, include for example, 'After Many a Summer – the changing face of Tiger Bay' (1968) about the docklands community in Cardiff, 'Yr Etifeddiaeth' ('The Heritage') (1949) about culture under threat in north west Wales, and 'Silent Village' (BBC, 1993) focusing on the people of a South Wales mining village. |
|
