Review of How Green Was My Valley (1941) by Aaron A — 05 Oct 2011

" It is with me now, so many years later. And it makes me think of so much that is good, that is gone.".

Synopsis: Recounted via the memories of the Morgan family's youngest son, director john Ford chronicles many years in the lives of a close-knit clan of Welsh coal miners.

I'm not going to fall into the trap of comparing the film to 'Citizen Kane", everything that could be said on the subject has likely already been said by individuals much more knowledgable on the subject than I. The film deserves to be judged on it's own merits, and on those merits Valley stands strong.

The film deals with the family unit. A theme director John Ford returned to quite often in his career. And if not for the strong sentimentalization infused into the picture, Ford could very well have had another feather in his cap; as the storytelling is quite finessed and Ford (fresh off his widely acknowledged masterpiece 'The Grapes of Wrath') was at the peak of his filmmaking abilities.

Though the drama is a bit silly with it's desire to be overly sentimental, when viewed more than 70 years after it's initial screening, such a fondness in storytelling seams to somehow work FOR the picture rather than against it, and a film lover shouldn't shy away from adding this one to his collection of classics.