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Perfect cast and a good story

A story that's too fascinating to pass by...

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

Firstly you must remember that this was originally a play for voices. To fully appreciate this surreal movie you need to listen to a recording of Dylan Thomas' play beforehand.The imagery in the movie totally worked for me. I was familiar with all the characters and was delighted how they were delineated on screen. The only performer I had "issues" with was Peter O'Toole as Captain Cat. He was obviously too young for the part - or his make-up was just not good enough. I enjoyed the way that the 2 Narrators were able to move around the town like ghostly interlopers, observing and describing the behaviour of the denizens. Using voice-over instead of direct speech added to the "other worldliness" feel of the whole. Such a shame that Richard Burton was allowed to monopolize the dialogue - Ryan Davies should have read more lines. Interesting to see Elizabeth Taylor (quite obviously in this due only to Welsh hubby Burton's involvement) playing the part of the popular local village prostitute no less. (For a sample of the same affection shown to Rosie Probert see "Never On Sunday" (1960) with Melina Mercouri.) Regarding the gratuitous menage-a-trois in the barn - if you view this as a surreal adaptation then the scene fits even though this was never written in the play.A long time ago I read that it was common in these small isolated Welsh villages for the water supply to became contaminated with heavy metals - probably due to all the dams that were built in the valleys that prevented the natural flow of water into the local wells. The result was that the local population suffered from a kind of pollution-induced madness. As the UK government provided no funding to find a cure these communities were fenced-in and the inhabitants allowed to live out their natural lives within the confines of their village. It is said that Dylan Thomas' play was describing this type of life. If you decide to watch this movie bear this in mind when considering the eccentricities displayed by the characters.

I agree with many of the review comments already posted here, so I won't say more about the film itself. Instead, it hasn't yet been pointed out that the DVD (produced by Sundance and Hart Sharp Video) also contains an hour-long documentary about Dylan Thomas, tucked away in the extra features. "Dylan on Dylan" is in some ways more interesting than the film adaptation of _Under Milkwood_. It runs through a biography of him along with old photos and audio, bits of biodrama reenacted, and especially includes footage from the WWII wartime morale propaganda films that Dylan Thomas wrote! One of those is a genuinely forceful parody: he appropriated the original propaganda film made _for_ Hitler by Reni Riefenstahl, and redid the sound -- so that Hitler's speech is more of an honest description. This feature documentary also includes a brief interview with two actresses who performed with Dylan Thomas live in _Under Milkwood_ virtually on the same day that he collapsed and died.

Dylan Thomas's poetic flow is all that counts with 'Under Milk Wood.' Perhaps it could have been made poetic visually as well, but this effort doesn't prove it. In fact, the direction is pedestrian, and some odd liberties with the text (the scene in the barn with Burton & Davies getting it on with a woman, for instance) only makes things worse since it is the text that matters.Then there is Richard Burton. No doubt that he would be THE actor for this film being a fellow Welshman like Thomas and a champion of the writer's work, but he is actually a bizarre presence in this film. He and Ryan Davies play a pair of wanderers drifting through town, their characters having little interaction with the folks, but Burton's character somehow has an omniscient knowledge of all of them. Burton doesn't speak on camera: his vocal performance is all voice-over narration. Ryan Davies never speaks a word on camera or off, as if he wandered in from a silent movie. Sadly, Burton strolls through the entire film with a goofy grin on his face, looking pale and drunk. And his wife Liz Taylor, handed a cameo, maintains her hideous late 60's makeup and renders herself unwatchable. But to be fair there are a lot of pretty women in this film and they are continuously slobbered over by a series of ugly Welshmen. The other featured star is Peter O'Toole as the blind Captain Cat. I admire this actor but he carries himself strangely in this film: he moves like a marionette straight out of the 'Thunderbirds.' Lastly, a weak music score doesn't help, especially with the lovely lyrics. Stick with the radio version.

First, a caveat: What I'm about to say is in regards to this film version only. The play itself is beautiful. I'm currently involved in a stage production of Dylan Thomas's "Under Milk Wood." The language is nothing short of breathtaking. Truly, it's a beautiful play.Very minor spoilers ahead:However, this film version of "Under Milk Wood" is nothing short of ridiculous. Large chunks of the wonderful narration have been left out, chronology changed, and general mayhem has been wreaked with the script. There are two creepy guys (accompanied by creepy music) who wander around the town, but appear to serve no real purpose. They don't narrate (as Voice One and Voice Two in the script do). They simply wander around creepily, and at one point have completely random, completely gratuitous tag-team (fully clothed) sex in a barn with some random woman. I'm left wondering, "What on earth were the people who made this movie thinking?" Thomas's script does not, in fact, include tag-team sex in a barn. I can see no reason whatsoever for this particular addition to have been made. It's ridiculous.This is not to say that the film has no redeeming qualities. The woman who played Mrs. Banks in "Mary Poppins" turns in a nice performance as Myfanwy Price. Peter O'Toole plays a fairly good Captain Cat. The actress who plays Mae Rose Cottage does a lovely job. Mr. Pugh is played quite well.On the flip side, Liz Taylor's portrayal of Rosie Probert is forgettable. Mrs. Pugh provides little motivation for her husband's intense hatred. The two creepy guys succeed in being creepy, but may as well have wandered on from another set for all the reason they seem to have for being in the film at all. Nogood Boyo is very badly cast, and may as well have been renamed Nogood 30-Year-Old Guy.All in all, I can't say I'm at all impressed with this film. If you want to know "Under Milk Wood," you'd be better off by far just reading the play then watching this bastardization of such a lovely work.