Set in the stunningly dramatic Welsh Borders, this evocative adaptation of Bruce Chatwin’s prize-winning 1982 novel, directed by Andrew Grieve (Hornblower, Letter from the East), is presented on Blu-ray for the first time.
Released in a Dual Format Edition by the BFI on 22 August 2016, a variety of accompanying new and archival special features will include an introduction by Andrew Grieve and films by Arthur Elton and Basil Wright from the BFI National Archive.
Chronicling the travails of the Jones family – Amos (Bob Peck, Jurassic Park), Mary (Gemma Jones, Bridget Jones’s Diary), and their three children – the heart of the story is the intense relationship between their sons, identical twins Benjamin and Lewis (played by real-life brothers Mike and Robert Gwilym). Sharing a unique bond, the brothers journey through eight decades of life, death and hardship together, all the while tied to the land on which they were raised.
The epic sweep of the film takes in two world wars, exploring themes of nationalism, class, community, faith and pacifism. Though unrelenting in its portrayal of the raw experiences of rural life, On the Black Hill celebrates the people of the Black Mountains and its landscape, made transcendent by the magnificent cinematography of Thaddeus O’Sullivan.
