Twin Town (1997)

Director:

Kevin Allen

Writers:

Kevin Allen (writer) and
Paul Durden (writer)

Release Date:

9 May 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

Rugby. Tom Jones. Male Voice Choirs. Shirley Bassey. Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwyllllantisiliogogogch. Snowdonia. Prince of Wales. Anthony Hopkins. Daffodils. Sheep. Sheep Lovers. Coal. Slate Quarries. The Blaenau Ffestiniog Dinkey-Doo Miniature Railway. Now If That's Your Idea Of Thousands Of Years Of Welsh Culture, You Can't Blame Us For Trying To Liven The Place Up A Little Can You?

Plot:

Twin Town opens with wide sweeping shots of seaside Swansea; to be the place of action for the next one and a half hours...

Plot Keywords:

Karaoke | Drugs | Compensation | Revenge | Brother

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Llyr Ifans	...	Julian Lewis (as Llyr Evans)
Rhys Ifans	...	Jeremy Lewis
Dorien Thomas	...	Greyo
Dougray Scott	...	Terry Walsh
Buddug Williams	...	Mrs. Mort
Ronnie Williams	...	Mr. Mort
Huw Ceredig	...	Fatty Lewis
Rachel Scorgie	...	Adie Lewis
Di Botcher	...	Jean Lewis
Mary Allen	...	Olive
Paul Durden	...	Taxi Driver
David Hayman	...	Dodgy
Kevin Allen	...	TV Presenter
Brian Hibbard	...	Dai Reese
Morgan Hopkins	...	Chip Roberts

Runtime:

99 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Argentina:16 | Australia:MA | Canada:18A | Finland:K-16 | France:-12 | Germany:16 (w) | Norway:18 | Portugal:M/18 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Llewellyn Steet, Neath Port Talbot, Wales, UK

Company:

Agenda

Trivia:

"Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwyll-llantisiliogogogoch" is the name of a town in North Wales. The name translates as "The church of St. Mary in the hollow of white hazel trees near the rapid whirlpool by St. Tysilio's of the red cave".

Quotes:

Jeremy Lewis, Julian Lewis: Health spa? Aaaah!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Film Geek (2005)

Soundtrack:

Bad Behaviour

this is a good film, and welsh to boot!

Twin Town cannot be mentioned in the same breath as Trainspotting, simply because it is a completely different film, the fact that they are both set in squalid urban surroundings and involve drugs is incidental. Twin Town is basically a sequence of revenge acts between two groups of people linked in all sorts of ways. The Twins to whom the title refers might as well be cardboard cutouts, for the lack of personalities, but you find yourself sympathetic with them despite their debauchery. Likewise the death of the Lewis family (minus the sons) is a very sad moment, despite the fact that they have been portrayed so shallowly. This is the success of the film, the way it manipulates your emotions to leave you genuinely shaken by the violence in the events leading up to the climax, whereas the opening of the film leads you to expect a light-hearted farce. Watching it again it is easy to divide the film into two sections, but very difficult to pin down where the change of pace and mood begins. The humour and irony is superb, particularly the razor sharp sarcasm of Adie. Although a very seedy picture of Wales is presented, this presents a very positive view of the people of Swansea and manages not to be anti-English in the slightest despite the obvious nationalistic feel. The acting is great, and as long as you aren`t expecting anything like Trainspotting and you let the humour wash over you you`ll enjoy this.