In the early 90s the British Film Institute specialised in releasing a string of period tales of loneliness set in remote corners of the British Isles, and following on from Venus Peter, On The Black Hill and December Bride comes Elenya, the sad little tale of a girl growing up in Wales during World War II
Abandoned by her Italian mother, Elenya lives with her mean-spirited aunt and, ostracised by the other children, leads a solitary existence roaming the woods, until one day she discovers a wounded German airman dangling from his parachute. Nursing him back to health, she hides him in a ruined cottage, but inevitably she can't keep his presence a secret forever. Thanks to a self-possessed central performance from 12-year-old Pascale Delafouge Jones, this succeeds in sketching a fragile relationship between the two stranded individuals who can barely communicate.
Unfortunately the delicate mood of childhood mystery is continually interrupted by pointless scenes of Elenya as an old woman travelling back to Wales and explaining the action in a letter to someone whose identity is never revealed. The credits indicate some post-production tampering with the editing - attributed to that old industry pseudonym Alan Smithee - and this certainly has that chopped-around look, with interesting hints left dangling like the airman, and the lone, climactic piece of action so fluffed that you aren't too sure exactly what happened.
http://www.bbfc.co.uk/releases/elenya-1992
https://www.timeout.com/us/film/elenya
Review
http://www.sky.com/tv/movie/elenya-1992
Poetic in treatment, if rather depressing in overall effect, director Steve Gough's first film is much to be admired to achieving what it does on so tiny a budget (£700,000 may sound a lot but it's peanuts compared to any mainstream film). Drained of all primary colours, the photography brilliantly catches the feel of a windswept Welsh countryside, but inattention to detail tends to let the movie down at vital moments. Why is the wartime German airman tended by our 12-year-old heroine always clean-shaven and why don't they make any attempt to look after his wounds properly? Even so, a promising directorial debut. Family viewing, but with one or two unpleasant scenes at the end.
Poetic in treatment, if rather depressing in overall effect, director Steve Gough's first film is much to be admired to achieving what it does on so tiny a budget (£700,000 may sound a lot but it's peanuts compared to any mainstream film). Drained of all primary colours, the photography brilliantly catches the feel of a windswept Welsh countryside, but inattention to detail tends to let the movie down at vital moments. Why is the wartime German airman tended by our 12-year-old heroine always clean-shaven and why don't they make any attempt to look after his wounds properly? Even so, a promising directorial debut. Family viewing, but with one or two unpleasant scenes at the end.
Poetic in treatment, if rather depressing in overall effect, director Steve Gough's first film is much to be admired to achieving what it does on so tiny a budget (£700,000 may sound a lot but it's peanuts compared to any mainstream film). Drained of all primary colours, the photography brilliantly catches the feel of a windswept Welsh countryside, but inattention to detail tends to let the movie down at vital moments. Why is the wartime German airman tended by our 12-year-old heroine always clean-shaven and why don't they make any attempt to look after his wounds properly? Even so, a promising directorial debut. Family viewing, but with one or two unpleasant scenes at the end.
Poetic in treatment, if rather depressing in overall effect, director Steve Gough's first film is much to be admired to achieving what it does on so tiny a budget (£700,000 may sound a lot but it's peanuts compared to any mainstream film). Drained of all primary colours, the photography brilliantly catches the feel of a windswept Welsh countryside, but inattention to detail tends to let the movie down at vital moments. Why is the wartime German airman tended by our 12-year-old heroine always clean-shaven and why don't they make any attempt to look after his wounds properly? Even so, a promising directorial debut. Family viewing, but with one or two unpleasant scenes at the end.
| Director: | Steve Gough |
|---|---|
| Screenwriter: | Steve Gough |
| Cast: | Pascale Delafouge Jones Klaus Behrendt Margaret John Seiriol Tomes Sue Jones Davies Iago Wynn Jones |
An all-too-familiar tale of a lonely young Welsh girl who, ostracised during WW2 because her mother was Italian, cares for a wounded German pilot who has crashed in the local woods, keeping him a secret from both the aunt she lives with and the cruelly jingoistic villagers. Rather like a cross between Whistle Down the Wind and Another Time, Another Place, the film is elegantly shot, nicely acted, worthy in its liberal sentiments, and almost entirely predictable.
ELENYA (1992)
ELENYA (1992)
TYPE Feature
APPROX. RUNNING MINUTES 80
RELEASE DATES 07/06/1993
DIRECTOR(S) Steve Gough
CAST INCLUDES Sue Jones Davies, Klaus Behrendt, Pascale Delafouge,Margaret John, Ioan Meredith, Eiry Palfrey
CUT All known versions of this work passed uncut.
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