Twin Town | |
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Directed by | Kevin Allen |
Written by |
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Produced by | Peter McAleese |
Starring |
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Cinematography | John Mathieson |
Edited by | Oral Norrie Ottey |
Music by | Mark Thomas |
Production companies |
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Distributed by | PolyGram Filmed Entertainment |
Release date |
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Running time | 99 minutes |
Country | United Kingdom |
Languages | English Welsh |
Budget | £1.7 million [1] |
Twin Town is a 1997 British dark comedy crime film, filmed mainly around Port Talbot and set in Swansea, Wales. It was directed by Kevin Allen and had a working title of Hot Dog; a hot dog van features in a number of scenes in the film. It stars real-life brothers Rhys Ifans (in his first major movie role) and Llŷr Ifans (credited as Llyr Evans) along with Dougray Scott. The director appears on screen, briefly seen as a show host on a TV set in the static caravan home of the twins while co-writer Paul Durden briefly appears as a rude taxi driver.
Set in Port Talbot and Swansea, the Lewis "twins" of the title are not twins but brothers. They live with their parents and sister Adie in a caravan on a mobile home site. Constantly mocking their sister's employment at a local massage parlour, they spend most of their time joking around, taking drugs and stealing cars.
Their father, "Fatty" Lewis, falls from a ladder while doing roofing work for Bryn Cartwright, a wealthy, prominent local businessman and small-time gangster. Laying blame, the twins attempt to demand workers' compensation for the accident. Bryn claims it was a cash arrangement with no legal representation and refuses the request for compensation. The twins take this personally and seek revenge by gatecrashing and ruining a local karaoke competition in which Bryn's daughter, beautiful Bonny is singing, by appearing from back stage and urinating on her during the performance in the Barons nightclub in Swansea. Bryn vows to get even and acquires the help of his associates, two corrupt police officers, Greyo and Terry to assist him getting revenge on the twins. After several efforts to disrupt their way of life, Bryn appears to succeed by having one of the detectives to assist him in beating up the twins down a back street.
As retaliation continues, the feud spirals out of control, progressing with the twins breaking into Bryn's property and beheading the Cartwrights' pet poodle. Terry Walsh responds by setting fire to the Lewis' dog's kennel with their pet inside. However, an adjacent gas bottle explodes, destroying the Lewises' mobile home and killing the twins' family. Clearly upset, the twins make arrangements with the local male voice choir and steal their father's hearse at his funeral. Terry meanwhile, much to Greyo's distress, accuses Fatty's co-workers Dai and Chip of destroying the caravan by placing items from the scene of the crime in their builder's van. The twins soon come down from the hills where they have been hiding out and go after Bryn, breaking into his house again and tying him up with washing line rigged to his own electric garage door. The twins ask to borrow Bryn's boat to which he agrees, with the hope of the twins letting him go unhurt. The twins disappear leaving Bryn tied up and at the brink of asphyxiation in his own garage. When his wife Lucy arrives later that evening, she attempts to use the electric gate remote from outside while returning home, causing the garage door to lift, hanging Bryn. On looking under the door and discovering the hanging, Lucy hysterically runs through the house and finds their daughter floating on a lilo in their indoor swimming pool listening to music through headphones, blissfully unaware of what has gone on.
The twins consider their job done and grant their father's wish of having a burial at sea with the assistance of Bryn's boat, with the coffin respectfully draped in the Welsh flag. It is a poignant moment as the local choir (formed from a number of real-life local male voice choirs) sing the Welsh language song Myfanwy at the end of Mumbles Pier. Meanwhile, Terry Walsh, terrified and pleading, has been gagged and bound to the coffin, and lowered into the sea just off the pier head of Mumbles Swansea. The coffin floats for a while before the twins make a bet to how long the coffin would stay afloat, seemingly brushing aside the emotion of their father's funeral at sea.
The coffin sinks and a few tears are shed by the twins. The twins then question each other on how far the boat would travel and imply that they would be heading to Morocco. The boat is last seen heading out to sea, driven by the twins to a haunting choir still singing on Mumbles Pier.
On Rotten Tomatoes the film has a score of 46% based on reviews from 13 critics. [3]
Roger Ebert gave the film two stars out of four, saying that he "was not sure where the movie wanted to go and what it wanted to do--this despite the fact that it goes many places and does too much." He also compared it unfavourably to Trainspotting, which had been released the previous year. [4] William Thomas of Empire gave it 4 out of 5 and wrote that the film "is low-life and proud of it. It's gritty, brutal and not for the faint of heart." He called the comparisons to Trainspotting "a masterstroke of marketing but far from accurate". [5]
The film was entered into the 47th Berlin International Film Festival. [6]
It is the favourite movie of the Welsh former international rugby union referee, Nigel Owens. [7]
Composer Mark Thomas won a BAFTA Cymru award for his work on the film. [8]
The 1997 TV documentary Shoot Out in Swansea: The Making of Twin Town by Richard Barber, looked at the making of Twin Town and featured interviews with the cast and crew of the film. [9]
In April 2009, director Kevin Allen revealed plans for a sequel, explaining that Rhys and Llŷr Ifans were willing to reprise their roles, which would see them returning from Africa as Islamic converts. [10] The sequel did not materialise, however, when Allen changed career and became a pig farmer in Ireland three years later. [11] In 2016 Allen stated, in a Wales Online article, that he was working on a sequel set around the Llanelli area; Allen said it would again be a comedy, but with a political spin regarding the legalisation of marijuana. [12]
Swansea is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Swansea.
Rhys Owain Evans, known as Rhys Ifans, is a Welsh actor. His portrayed roles in Notting Hill (1999), Kevin & Perry Go Large (2000), and Enduring Love (2004), in addition to Xenophilius Lovegood in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 (2010), Dr. Curt Connors / Lizard in The Amazing Spider-Man (2012) and Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), and Grigori Rasputin in The King's Man (2021). His television roles include Hector DeJean in the Epix thriller series Berlin Station, Mycroft Holmes in the CBS series Elementary, and Otto Hightower in the HBO fantasy series House of the Dragon.
Maldwyn "Mal" Pope is a Welsh musician and composer, who is notable for his contribution to music theatre portraying Welsh national identities and themes. He lives in the village of Mumbles, Swansea. He is known for singing both the Welsh and English language versions of the Fireman Sam theme.
Llangennech ( ) is a village and community in the area of Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, Wales, which covers an area of 1,222 hectares (4.72 sq mi).
Myfanwy, is a popular Welsh song composed by Joseph Parry in four parts for male voices, and first published in 1875.
Kevin Edward Allen is a Welsh actor, director, producer and writer. Allen came to prominence with the 1991 BBC film On the March with Bobby's Army, and for writing and directing his debut feature film, Twin Town, in 1997. He directed and co-wrote the movie adaptation of Dylan Thomas' "Under Milk Wood", submitted for Best Foreign Language Film at the 2015 Oscars ceremony but not nominated, the Hollywood feature films, The Big Tease and Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London, and the first series of ITV's Benidorm, along with numerous other films and documentaries.
Con Passionate is a Welsh-language television drama series, written by Siwan Jones and directed by Rhys Powys for S4C. The first two series were Teledu Apollo productions.
The cinema of Wales comprises the art of film and creative movies made in Wales or by Welsh filmmakers either locally or abroad. Welsh cinema began in the late-19th century, led by Welsh-based director William Haggar. Wales continued to produce film of varying quality throughout the 20th century, in both the Welsh and English languages, though indigenous production was curtailed through a lack of infrastructure and finance, which prevented the growth of the industry nationally. Despite this, Wales has been represented in all fields of the film making process, producing actors and directors of note.
Llŷr Evans, also known as Llŷr Ifans, is a Welsh actor.
Robin Llwyd ab Owain is a Welsh author, poet, and Wikipedian. He won the chair at the National Eisteddfod of Wales in 1991. In 2013, he was appointed Wikimedia UK's first Wales Manager. He is the son of poet and writer Owain Owain.
The 1903 Home Nations Championship was the twenty-first series of the rugby union Home Nations Championship. Six matches were played between 10 January and 21 March. It was contested by England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
The 1904 Home Nations Championship was the twenty-second series of the rugby union Home Nations Championship. Six matches were played between 9 January and 19 March. It was contested by England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
The 1905 Home Nations Championship was the twenty-third series of the rugby union Home Nations Championship. Six matches were played between 14 January and 18 March. It was contested by England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
The 1906 Home Nations Championship was the twenty-fourth series of the rugby union Home Nations Championship. Six matches were played between 13 January and 17 March. It was contested by England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
Aled Wyn Davies is a classical tenor from Llanbrynmair, in Powys, Mid Wales. He is a member of the Three Welsh Tenors with Rhys Meirion and Aled Hall.
Huw Ceredig Jones was a Welsh actor, best known for portraying Reg Harries in the Welsh-language soap opera Pobol y Cwm for 29 years, from 1974 to 2003.
Under Milk Wood is a 2015 Welsh drama film based on the radio drama of the same name by Dylan Thomas. It is adapted and directed by Kevin Allen. The narrator is Rhys Ifans. The film was selected as the British entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 88th Academy Awards but not nominated.
Cool Cymru was a Welsh cultural movement in music and independent film in the 1990s and 2000s, led by the popularity of bands such as Catatonia, Stereophonics and Manic Street Preachers.