Hedd Wyn (1992)

Academy Awards, USA 1994

Nominated Oscar

Best Foreign Language Film United Kingdom.

S4C (Wales)
Directed by Paul Turner
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb Wikipedia
(YouTube)

A Welsh farmer, poet and pacifist resists peer pressure to enlist in the English army in WWI. He has love affairs with several women, but seems to be mostly interested in the one who likes his poetry. The draft board finally identifies him and forces his father to choose one of his sons to send to the war. The agonizing decision is made to send the oldest, the poet, who reluctantly agrees. He is sent to the front and participates in one of the bloodiest trench warfare battles. Too much time is spent on his melodramatic love affairs, but the final act more than makes up for it: a mesmerizing mix of Celtic music, poetry and haunting war images.