Solomon and Gaenor (1999)

Director:

Paul Morrison

Writer:

Paul Morrison (writer)

Release Date:

30 April 1999 (UK)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

Their tragedy was to fall in love.

Plot:

A tragic love story between a Jewish young man and a Welsh woman in the beginning of the century. The movie is mostly in English with parts in Welsh and Yiddish

Plot Keywords:

Church | Blizzard | 1910s | Barn | Anti Semitism

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 7 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Ioan Gruffudd	...	Solomon Levinsky
Nia Roberts	...	Gaenor Rees
Sue Jones-Davies	...	Gwen (as Sue Jones Davies)
William Thomas	...	Idris Rees
Mark Lewis Jones	...	Crad Rees
Maureen Lipman	...	Rezl
David Horovitch	...	Isaac
Bethan Ellis Owen	...	Bronwen
Adam Jenkins	...	Thomas
Cyril Shaps	...	Ephraim
Daniel Kaye	...	Philip
Elliot Cantor	...	Benjamin
Steffan Rhodri	...	Noah Jones
Emyr Wyn	...	Reverend Roberts
Julian Lewis Jones	...	Wyn

Also Known As:

Solomon & Gaenor (USA)
Solomon a Gaenor (Wales: Welsh title) [cy]
Solomon i Gaenor (Croatia) [hr]
Solomon y Gaenor (Argentina) (cable TV title) [es]

MPAA:

Rated R for sexuality and a scene of violence.

Runtime:

Argentina:105 min | Germany:102 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English | Welsh | Yiddish

Color:

Color

Certification:

Canada:14A (Ontario) | UK:15 | Argentina:16 | Australia:MA | Hong Kong:III | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Cardiff, South Glamorgan, Wales, UK

Company:

APT Films

Trivia:

Each scene was filmed twice; once in English then again in Welsh so that a Welsh language version of the film could also be released.

Quotes:

Solomon Levinsky: You pray to your God. And I'll pray to mine.

This is an engrossing, heartbreaking, wonderful film!

Solomon and Gaenor is a film that sincerely captures the magic of the discovery of pure love, and also depicts so painfully what happens when ethnicism and hate work against it. I found so much of the film to be right on target with what people will do to make the "impossible" possible. There are so many forces at war in this movie: Truth versus deception; love versus hate; joy versus pain; sin versus virtue; ecstacy versus agony; and that's just a glimpse! I felt that I was not watching actors, but rather that I was part of the air surrounding the goings-on in these characters' lives. I was completely immersed in the story. Not only was the acting so on the mark, but the dialog was superb, the emotional struggle was palpable, and the lessons learned are as pertinent today as they were portrayed in this story set in Wales long ago. The story itself is truly a tragedy. The film, however, is magnificent.