Hedd Wyn is a 1992 film from the United Kingdom—specifically, Wales, and thus in Welsh. It was directed by Paul Turner.
The story takes place from 1913 to 1917. It's a biopic of Ellis Evans, a young Welshman who wrote poetry when he wasn't tending sheep on the family farm. Ellis, who writes under the "bardic name" of Hedd Wyn, is a poet of remarkable talent. He wins a prize at a local eisteddfod (an arts festival) and a friend says he has a shot of winning the prestigious National Eisteddfod of Wales
. Meanwhile, Ellis is engaged in a passionate romance with a local redhead named Lizzie.
Unfortunately, war comes in 1914. Ellis, a pacifist who does not believe he could ever kill, refuses to join up, even as social pressure and public shaming are brought to bear: his brother is beaten up by other kids whose older brothers have gone to war, and Lizzie dumps him. Finally, in order to spare his little brother Robert from being taken in his place, Ellis joins up, even after his new girlfriend Jini begs him not to go. He is sent off to war, and he mails his epic poem Yr Arwr to the 1917 National Eisteddfod right before he has to go over the top at the battle of Passchendaele.
Tropes:
- Actual Pacifist: Although he clearly thinks little of British nationalism, especially since it's actually English nationalism, Ellis is careful to say that he does not specifically disapprove of the Great War. He insists that the reason he does not wish to serve in the army is that he, personally, does not wish to kill.
- Arcadia: Rural Wales in The Edwardian Era, a land of rolling green hills and babbling streams and sheep grazing in meadows, where, when you lie down to have sex with a girl, you do it in a field of rich green grass and purple flowers. This is contrasted with the bombed-out horror of Passchendaele at the end.
- Call-Back: In one scene Mary Catherine observes Ellis tossing a manuscript of a poem into the river, something that he says he does sometimes just because. At the end, after having received word of his death, she tosses the manuscript of his poem "Rhyfel" ("War") into the river.
- Downer Ending: Ellis dies of his wounds in Flanders, never even knowing that he won the bardic chair, which is delivered to his family draped in black.
- Down on the Farm: The Evans family operates a small farm. The exemption granted to farmers allows Ellis to avoid war service, until the government starts conscripting some farmers as well.
- Drill Sergeant Nasty: The typical drill sergeant nasties appear as Ellis has an unpleasant time in basic training. One interrupts his screaming at the men to scream at one particular Welshman for being an "ignorant peasant", after the Welshman failed to understand the orders he was barking in English. In the bayonet practice scene there's a tight closeup on the maniacal face of another sergeant, who screams "KILL! KILL! KILL!", as a horrified Ellis plunges his bayonet repeatedly into a burlap sack.
- Gone Swimming, Clothes Stolen: Ellis wants to go Skinnydipping in the stream with Lizzie, so he takes his clothes off and wades in. Instead of joining him she pranks him by running off with his clothes, forcing him to chase after her naked.
- Hiding Behind the Language Barrier:
- When the conscription man from the war office arrives at the Ellis farm, looking to see how many sons of military age are there, Ma Evans tells her young daughter "Don't tell him anything," in Welsh. The intimidated girl blurts out the truth anyway.
- The Drill Sergeant Nasty who screams at a Welsh private for not understanding English finally provokes the private to say "Shut your gob!" in Welsh. When the sergeant demands "Translate!", Ellis smiles and says "he says he'll do his best, sergeant."
- How We Got Here: The film opens with Ellis being grievously wounded by shellfire at Passchendaele before jumping back to 1913. Then the plot unfolds 1913-1917, while occasionally cutting back to Ellis, clinging to life, being taken back to an aid station.
- Incurable Cough of Death: When Lizzie is seen again in the village, some time well after the war started and she dumped Ellis, she coughs in church. Sure enough, she's got TB, and she later dies.
- It Will Never Catch On: Ellis's friend Griff, who joins up immediately in 1914, gives the usual line of that time that he'll "be home by Christmas." He isn't, and eventually he's killed in action.
- Lap Pillow: Ellis lays his head on Lizzie's lap as they relax by a stream.
- Match Cut: Occasionally there are symbolic shots, sometimes framed as visions of Ellis, of a mysterious woman in a robe and veil. The first time he meets Jini, the shot where she gets up to leave their compartment on the train is matched with a shot of the mystery woman passing by.
- Moment Killer: Ellis and his friend Mary Catherine, his sister's teacher, take shelter in a barn during a storm. He starts a fire and has her take her coat off to dry. There's a long Held Gaze, they seem to be about to kiss—and another random villager pops his head into the barn. The two of them laugh and apparently resolve to remain Just Friends.
- A Real Man Is a Killer: A lot of people believed this, even in Wales; Ellis's younger brother Robert scorns his refusal to join up, and Lizzie dumps him, going out with a soldier and coldly telling Elllis "I don't like your clothes." Later Lizzie admits that she was wrong.
- Rule of Symbolism:
- Ellis is tending sheep, gazing out at the stunning beauty of Welsh farm country, writing a poem about the glories of his land...when his peaceful reverie is interrupted by cannon fire. The British army has established an artillery firing range in the area, and war is coming.
- As the soldiers march off to the front in Flanders, they pass by a shell-damaged crucifix, posted in the middle of nowhere by the side of the road.
- War Is Hell: The senseless, pointless tragedy that is World War I leads to the death of a talented young poet.
