Solomon & Gaenor is a 1999 film from Wales directed by Paul Morrison.
Wales, 1911. Solomon Levinsky (Ioan Gruffudd in one of his first starring roles) is a young man who lives with his Orthodox Jewish family in a Welsh village. The Levinskys have a shop in the village and they also go door-to-door selling cloth and fixing windows. Solomon is doing such when he is greeted at the door by Gaenor Rees, a lovely young woman who is the oldest daughter in a coal-mining family. Solomon is instantly smitten by pretty Gaenor, but he can't bring himself to admit that he is Jewish—he has already been pretending to be a gentile while in the village. So he introduces himself to her as "Sam Livingstone".
The two fall in love, and Gaenor even presents "Sam" to her family. But he continues to dodge whenever she asks to meet his family. Soon matters come to a head.
Two different versions of this movie were filmed, one that was in Welsh and Yiddish, and another that replaced most of the Welsh dialogue with English. Steffan Rhodri plays Gaenor's would-be beau Noah.
Tropes:
- Arcadia: The rolling green hills of Wales, dotted with sheep. Subverted in that the rural beauty of Wales also includes labor unrest and anti-Semitic riots.
- Birth-Death Juxtaposition: Solomon dies while huddled in bed with Gaenor. Gaenor wails with grief...and then gasps with the pain of contractions as she immediately goes into labor.
- Downer Ending: Solomon dies. Gaenor has to give up her baby, and will probably live the rest of her life alone, now that she's regarded as a fallen woman by the town.
- Establishing Character Moment: Solomon chucks a wadded-up paper at his uncle for distracting him with prayers while Solomon is pretending to study. Soon after, he flatly denies it when a villager asks him if he's a Jew.
- Gray Rain of Depression: Solomon sits for a long time in the hillside in the rain, hoping to catch Gaenor, after she's dumped him because she found out his secret. His vigil is cut short when he's attacked by some local thugs and has to flee.
- I Have No Son!: Solomon's father refuses to recognize Gaenor's baby as his grandchild, saying "He's no grandchild of ours. He's a mistake."
- Impairment Shot: A blurry shot as Solomon regains consciousness after passing out on Gaenor's doorstep confirms that yes, he really is sick.
- Morning Sickness: Gaenor's pregnancy is revealed when she pukes while feeding the pigs.
- Name and Name: Solomon and Gaenor, the Star-Crossed Lovers.
- Off-into-the-Distance Ending: Gaenor is riding back to town on the same cart that's carrying Solomon's coffin. Crad, who seems to be feeling a bit of remorse, sees the cart passing by and hitches a ride.
- Shiksa Goddess: A Jewish man falls in love with a beautiful blonde Christian woman. It seems at least one factor is Solomon's desire to assimilate in early 20th century Wales.
- Star-Crossed Lovers: A Jewish man and a Gentile woman separated by families and religions that refuse to accept each other. An anti-Semitic riot by the ignorant villagers separates them when they are about to run away together. Solomon catches cold and dies after marching across the frozen wastes to find Gaenor again.
- Torches and Pitchforks: The pig-ignorant villagers do what pig-ignorant villagers have always done when things go bad: they blame the Jews. Tension over the labor disturbances in Wales leads to a torch-wielding mob to sack the Jewish neighborhood, including the Levinsky shop. This leads Solomon to miss his rendezvous with Gaenor, when he stays to protect his family.
- Voiceover Letter: There's a voiceover of Solomon's letter as he writes to Gaenor trying to explain why he missed the rendezvous and where he is now (more or less being held prisoner by relations in Cardiff). As the voiceover ends, Gaenor's asshole brother Crad throws the letter in the pigsty and shovels dirt on it.
- Victorian Novel Disease: Solomon doesn't die from getting beaten up by Crad, and he doesn't die from hypothermia after making his long march across the frozen hills of Wales to find Gaenor again. No, he makes it to her still alive, and he's bundled up in warm blankets and given soup...but apparently he caught something while hiking cross-country alone, and he dies the day after showing up at Gaenor's family's house.
- Woman Scorned: A Gender Flip with Noah, a villager who is obviously sweet on Gaenor. When he eventually finds out that she's been knocked up, he reveals it in the middle of church, causing Gaenor to be cast out of the congregation.
