by Julian Wood
Worth: $17.00
FilmInk rates movies out of $20 — the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth
Cast:
Harry Lawtey, Toby Jones, Lesley Manville
Intro:
If the story is simple enough, it is the acting that lifts it out of the ordinary.
There is a good reason for this well-made British film to focus its title on a surname. It is actually about the early life of the great British (or rather Welsh) actor Richard Burton, but he was born Richard Jenkins. The story of how he came to acquire the surname relates to the identity struggles that dominated his early years. Marc Evans’ film concentrates upon the young man’s origin story and, interestingly, it never goes near the middle years of fame once he is established in the British theatre scene. Nor does it feature the famous and tempestuous marrying and remarrying saga of his relationship with Elizabeth Taylor.
The film is resolutely set in Port Talbot in the mining district of Wales during the post war years. It lays on the coals-in-the-bath grime with a trowel at times. There is one point when the young actor sits on the hillside and waxes about the beauty of the sky, but it is a wonder that he can see past his nose with the thick shroud of coal dust and smoke that envelops every shot of the village.
It is pretty clear that times were hard, and the men were harder. His natal father was a king of the pub miner, and he spends a lot of time in there telling stories in the Welsh tradition. Meanwhile, young Richard looks on from a distance admiring and yet feeling essentially different. When he makes it known that he wants to go into the theatre rather than down the pit, his father is uncomprehending and shows a total lack of understanding of that unlikely career choice. Lucky then that a little old school master called Burton takes an interest in the lad. PH as he is known, sees something in the boy and slowly builds up his confidence and technique. PH lives a small life in a neat and tidy house run by his landlady (the wonderful Lesley Manville). The process of how the two adults make Richard their project is the emotional heart of the film.
If the story is simple enough, it is the acting that lifts it out of the ordinary. Toby Jones is more or less pitch perfect as the dedicated school master. He is one of those faces that people who do not recognise his name will always say, “oh that guy!”. Physically, he is unprepossessing with his small mouth and stature and his tired eyes, but he has a remarkable ability to fill the screen. Here, he gives us every nuance of the hope and awkwardness and tough love that the onscreen relationship demands.
The surprise in acting terms is Harry Lawtey (Joker: Folie a Deux) as the young Richard. Not only does he have the presence and striking bearing of someone like Jacob Elordi, but he also shows great depth and emotional range. He gets all the rage and turmoil of the young man hemmed in by his humble background, but also the neediness beneath his superficial arrogance. His performance grows over the course of the film so that he comes to look and carry himself more like the Richard Burton we know. He also subtly changes his diction. Richard Burton had that once-in-a-generation actor’s voice and Lawtey reproduces it perfectly. You could listen to that voice all day. He more or less steals the whole film, which given the supporting cast that he has around him, is no mean feat.
