Very Annie Mary
Encyclopedia
Very Annie Mary is a 2001 comedy film
and musical from the United Kingdom
, written and directed by Sara Sugarman
and starring Rachel Griffiths
and Jonathan Pryce
. It is a coming-of-age
tale, set in south Wales
, about a woman in her 30s who lives with her verbally abusive father. It was filmed on location in Bridgend
county and at Workingman's Institute and Memorial Hall
, Newbridge, Wales
.
, posing as the fictional village of "Ogw" (a play on Bridgend County's previous name of Ogwr
). It was scheduled to be presented at the 2000 Sundance Film Festival
and the Dinard Festival of British Cinema but failed to show at either event.
magazine called it a "half-klutzy, half-engaging eccentric comedy...bolstered by good turns from leads Rachel Griffiths and Jonathan Pryce" but "falling prey to a general disorganization in tone and structure. The Guardian
called it "a broad comedy with a very derivative Monty
-ish plot, but likeable and good-natured." The New York Times
called the film "alternately mushy and farcical" with an "undertone of satire" that keeps the film from "choking on its own cuteness"; it "churns up a few genuinely funny bits" including a climax
"that is almost worth waiting for."
Comedy film
Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...
and musical from the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, written and directed by Sara Sugarman
Sara Sugarman
Sara Sugarman is a Welsh actress and film director whose work includes Disney's Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen and Very Annie Mary...
and starring Rachel Griffiths
Rachel Griffiths
Rachel Anne Griffiths is an Australian film and television actress who came to prominence in the 1994 film Muriel's Wedding and her Academy Award nominated performance in the 1997 film Hilary and Jackie....
and Jonathan Pryce
Jonathan Pryce
Jonathan Pryce, CBE is a Welsh stage and film actor and singer. After studying at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and meeting his longtime partner English actress Kate Fahy in 1974, he began his career as a stage actor in the 1970s...
. It is a coming-of-age
Coming of age
Coming of age is a young person's transition from childhood to adulthood. The age at which this transition takes place varies in society, as does the nature of the transition. It can be a simple legal convention or can be part of a ritual, as practiced by many societies...
tale, set in south Wales
South Wales
South Wales is an area of Wales bordered by England and the Bristol Channel to the east and south, and Mid Wales and West Wales to the north and west. The most densely populated region in the south-west of the United Kingdom, it is home to around 2.1 million people and includes the capital city of...
, about a woman in her 30s who lives with her verbally abusive father. It was filmed on location in Bridgend
Bridgend
Bridgend is a town in the Bridgend County Borough in Wales, west of the capital, Cardiff. The river crossed by the original bridge, which gave the town its name, is the River Ogmore but the River Ewenny also passes to the south of the town...
county and at Workingman's Institute and Memorial Hall
Workingman's Institute and Memorial Hall
Workingman's Institute and Memorial Hall is the multipurpose centre in Newbridge in South Wales which includes a memorial to those from the town who died in the two World Wars. It is also houses a library, reading rooms, an art deco cinema, a dance floor and a theatre. The Hall was built in 1908,...
, Newbridge, Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
.
Plot
After her father suffers a stroke, a woman is forced to take care of him but uses the circumstances to emancipate herself and find the courage to sing once again.Cast
- Rachel GriffithsRachel GriffithsRachel Anne Griffiths is an Australian film and television actress who came to prominence in the 1994 film Muriel's Wedding and her Academy Award nominated performance in the 1997 film Hilary and Jackie....
as Annie Mary Pugh - Jonathan PryceJonathan PryceJonathan Pryce, CBE is a Welsh stage and film actor and singer. After studying at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and meeting his longtime partner English actress Kate Fahy in 1974, he began his career as a stage actor in the 1970s...
as Jack Pugh - Ioan GruffuddIoan GruffuddIoan Gruffudd is a Welsh actor.Trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, he started off in Welsh language film productions, then came to international attention as Fifth Officer Harold Lowe in the film Titanic , and as Lt. John Beales in Black Hawk Down...
as Hob - Matthew RhysMatthew RhysMatthew Rhys Evans , known professionally as Matthew Rhys, is a Welsh actor, best known as Kevin Walker on the U.S. ABC family drama Brothers & Sisters, and as Dylan Thomas in The Edge of Love.-Early life:...
as Nob - Kenneth GriffithKenneth GriffithKenneth Griffith was a Welsh actor and documentary filmmaker.-Early life:He was born Kenneth Reginald Griffiths in Tenby, Pembrokeshire, Wales. Six months after his birth his parents split up and left Tenby, leaving Kenneth with his paternal grandparents, Emily and Ernest, who immediately adopted...
as Minister - Ruth MadocRuth MadocRuth Madoc is a British actress and singer. She is best known for her roles as Gladys Pugh in the 1980s BBC television comedy Hi-de-Hi!, and as Daffyd Thomas's mother in the second series of Little Britain.-Early life:...
as Mrs. Ifans - Joanna PageJoanna PageJoanna Louise Page is a Welsh actress, best known for playing Stacey in the television series, Gavin and Stacey.-Early and personal life:...
as Bethan Bevan - Anna Mountford as Blodwyn
Music
The film features the following songs:- Nessun DormaNessun dormaNessun dorma is an aria from the final act of Giacomo Puccini's opera Turandot, and is one of the best-known tenor arias in all opera. It is sung by Calaf, il principe ignoto , who falls in love at first sight with the beautiful but cold Princess Turandot...
- "Happy BirthdayHappy Birthday to You"Happy Birthday to You", also known more simply as "Happy Birthday", is a song that is traditionally sung to celebrate the anniversary of a person's birth...
" - "I Heard You Calling Me"
- "Come Back to SorrentoTorna a Surriento“Torna a Surriento” is a Neapolitan song said to have been composed in 1902 by Ernesto De Curtis to words by his brother, Giambattista. The song was copyrighted officially in 1905; it has since become wildly popular, and has been sung by performers as diverse as Beniamino Gigli, Elvis Presley,...
" - "Oh I Do Like to Be Beside the SeasideI Do Like To be Beside the Seaside"I Do Like To Be Beside The Seaside" is a popular British music hall song. It was written in 1907 by John A. Glover-Kind and made famous by music hall singer Mark Sheridan who first recorded it in 1909. It speaks of the singer's love for the seaside, and their wish to return there for their summer...
" - "Bohemian RhapsodyBohemian Rhapsody"Bohemian Rhapsody" is a song by the British rock band Queen. It was written by Freddie Mercury for the band's 1975 album A Night at the Opera...
" - "Dance Club"
- "We'll Keep a Welcome"
- O mio babbino caroO mio babbino caro"O mio babbino caro" is a soprano aria from the opera Gianni Schicchi , by Giacomo Puccini, to a libretto by Giovacchino Forzano. It is sung by Lauretta after tensions between her father Schicchi and the family of Rinuccio, the boy she loves, have reached a breaking point that threatens to...
- "Love's Old Sweet SongLove's Old Sweet SongLove's Old Sweet Song is an Irish folk song published in 1884 by composer James Lynam Molloy and lyricist G. Clifton Bingham.It has been recorded by many artists, including John McCormack and Clara Butt. It is alluded to in James Joyce's Ulysses as being sung by Molly Bloom....
" - "Boum !"
- The words of the "Sermon on the Mount" performed to the tune of "Living DollLiving Doll (song)"Living Doll" is a song written by Lionel Bart made popular by Cliff Richard and the Shadows in 1959. It has topped the UK charts twice; in its original version and a new version recorded in 1986 in aid of Comic Relief....
" - "I'll Take You Home Again, KathleenI'll Take You Home Again, KathleenI'll Take You Home Again, Kathleen is a popular song written by Thomas P. Westendorf in 1875. In spite of its American origins, it is known and revered as an Irish ballad. Westendorf, a school teacher in Plainfield, Indiana, wrote it for his wife...
"
- "You Can't Get a Man with a GunYou Can't Get a Man with a Gun"You Can't Get a Man with a Gun" is a song from the 1946 musical Annie Get Your Gun, by Irving Berlin. It was originally performed by Ethel Merman.Other singers to have recorded the song include Betty Hutton, Bernadette Peters and Judy Garland....
" - "Cotton-Eyed JoeCotton-Eyed Joe"Cotton-Eyed Joe" is a popular American folk song known at various times throughout the United States and Canada, although today it is most commonly associated with the American South...
" - Hen Wlad Fy NhadauHen Wlad Fy NhadauHen Wlad Fy Nhadau is the national anthem of Wales. The title – taken from the first words of the song – means "Old Land of My Fathers", usually rendered in English as simply "Land of My Fathers". The words were written by Evan James and the tune composed by his son, James James, both residents...
- MyfanwyMyfanwyMyfanwy is a popular Welsh song, composed by Joseph Parry and first published in 1875. Parry wrote the music to lyrics written by Richard Davies...
- "We'll Gather Lilacs"
- "What's Love Got to Do with It"
- "Forever and Ever"
- "Whistling Bowery Boy"
- Bugeilio'r Gwenith GwynBugeilio'r Gwenith GwynBugeilio'r Gwenith Gwyn is an 18th century traditional Welsh love song.It describes the tragic love affair between Wil Hopcyn and Ann Thomas from the village of Llangynwyd in Glamorganshire. Ann belonged to a wealthy farming family but Wil was only a farm labourer...
- "Y.M.C.A." '93 Remix
- O Sole Mio
- "Don't StopDon't Stop (Fleetwood Mac song)"Don't Stop" is a song by the rock group Fleetwood Mac, written by vocalist and keyboard player Christine McVie. Sung by Christine McVie and guitarist Lindsey Buckingham, it was a single taken from the band's 1977 hit album, Rumours. It is one of the band's most enduring hits, peaking at number...
" - "Dear Hearts and Gentle PeopleDear Hearts and Gentle People"Dear Hearts and Gentle People" is a popular song published in 1949 with music by Sammy Fain and lyrics by Bob Hilliard. They were inspired to write the song based on a scrap of paper with the words "Dear friends and gentle hearts" written on it that was found on the body of Stephen Foster when he...
"
Production
The film was shot in summer 1999, with filming taking place in the Garw Valley in Bridgend, WalesWales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
, posing as the fictional village of "Ogw" (a play on Bridgend County's previous name of Ogwr
Ogwr
The Borough of Ogwr was one of six districts of Mid Glamorgan in Wales, which existed from 1974 to 1996.It was formed under the Local Government Act 1972 from the urban districts of Bridgend, Maesteg, Ogmore and Garw and Porthcawl, along with Penybont Rural District from the administrative county...
). It was scheduled to be presented at the 2000 Sundance Film Festival
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...
and the Dinard Festival of British Cinema but failed to show at either event.
Reception
VarietyVariety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
magazine called it a "half-klutzy, half-engaging eccentric comedy...bolstered by good turns from leads Rachel Griffiths and Jonathan Pryce" but "falling prey to a general disorganization in tone and structure. The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
called it "a broad comedy with a very derivative Monty
The Full Monty
The Full Monty is a 1997 British comedy film directed by Peter Cattaneo, starring Robert Carlyle, Mark Addy, William Snape, Steve Huison, Tom Wilkinson, Paul Barber, and Hugo Speer. The screenplay was written by Simon Beaufoy...
-ish plot, but likeable and good-natured." The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
called the film "alternately mushy and farcical" with an "undertone of satire" that keeps the film from "choking on its own cuteness"; it "churns up a few genuinely funny bits" including a climax
Climax (narrative)
The Climax is the point in the story where the main character's point of view changes, or the most exciting/action filled part of the story. It also known has the main turning point in the story...
"that is almost worth waiting for."