How Green Was My Valley - The Oscar Project Part XIV

“How Green Was My Valley” was released in 1941. Having been released and then nominated during the beginning of America’s involvement in World War II, this small film about hard family life would have been very appealing to people. It is told from the prospective of a man who is living his small coal mining village and as he goes he remembers the important things that have happened in his life.

The direction by John Ford, is excellent. With such a large cast that is constantly aging, a viewer could be easily lost. But Ford is able to use excellent transitions and constants to allow the audience to keep up with the story. It also features some of the most beautiful cinematography that I have seen to date while watching these Oscar winning films. The acting is decent, but there isn’t much to write home about. No one really stands out and gives a memorable performance, but no one really gives a bad performance either.

The story itself was just not intriguing. By the end of the movie I didn’t feel a connection to anyone. I didn’t care about the relationship between the Priest and the sister, the death of the Father didn’t surprise me or make me sad. The disjointed narrative used didn’t work. This was a character piece and the movie tried to be bigger than that. Looking back, this is definitely one of those films that won despite there being a clearly better film that year. In this case it was “Citizen Kane.”

This film could be successful today, but not without a lot of changes. A better narrative and some acting power would be a must. It gets 2 and a half out of 5 stars.