Based on Gary Owen's much lauded and widely performed monodrama, Iphigenia in Splott, Effi o Blaenau is director Marc Evans' cinematic interpretation set against the wide open landscapes of North Wales.
The film follows Effi, a young woman desperate to escape a town where the pubs are closed, the jobs have vanished and her grandmother works night shifts in the local chip shop just to get by. A chance encounter in a Llandudno nightclub with injured soldier Lee, played by Tom Rhys Harries, briefly opens a door to something better. For a moment, Effi glimpses a life she never imagined. The reality that follows is far tougher.
In Welsh with English subtitles
The Garden Cinema View:
It feels almost revelatory to watch a film predominantly spoken in Welsh. Not only does this spotlight how marginalised the language has become in the UK, but proves one of this film’s messages about how these communities are themselves left behind and deprived. Effi o Blaenau begins as am energetic shot of kitchen sink realism (albeit containing loose references to Sophocles’ Iphigenia), with our heroine as a perpetually hungover party girl living in a dying village in North Wales. Director Marc Evans sets his cast of foul mouthed wrong ‘uns amongst the majestic foothills of Eryri (Snowdonia) National Park. The visual symbolism of this dichotomy is straightforward but never loses its power. Driven by a formidable lead performance from Leisa Gwenllian, Effi o Blaenau shifts its narrative away from social realism stereotypes and achieves a genuine sense of empathy for these characters.
