This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.

This is How Movies Should Be Made

Good concept, poorly executed.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

The movie is a painting of scenes, and a romance with English words that, oddly enough, only Celtic people seem capable of; Welshman Burton's riveting voice gives life to his countryman's work like perhaps none living could, today . The language is so lively and the metaphors so concentrated that the film may leave some scratching their heads; but for lovers of poetry, or literature at large, this well-conceived and directed interpretation of Dylan is worth the viewing. Peter O'Toole and Elizabeth Taylor give interesting performances, and the film contains several scenes that will stay with the viewer long after the film is over. The lush countryside of seaside Wales, and the sleepy little village in which the action plays out, are also quite haunting. Llareggub, indeed.

Before they made a musical of T.S. Eliot's "Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats," they made a movie of Dylan Thomas...sort of. UNDER MILK WOOD is based on his poem/radio play about the eccentric denizens of a tiny fishing town. Ardent admirers of the Welsh bard may find this film a delight; I found it alternately tedious and enchanting...but not enchanting enough.Since there is no plot, the result is a series of recurring, mostly whimsical vignettes (the wife with two husbands; Organ Morgan, who can't stop playing; blind Captain Cat, who lives in a house that looks like a ship; etc.). The actors sound marvelous, but there is nowhere for them to go. To be sure, the language is intoxicating, if often obscure. (I found it helpful to watch with English subtitles turned on.)Do NOT expect a Liz Taylor vehicle; her role amounts to a cameo. (And her brash 1970s makeup seems completely inappropriate for the role!)

. . .I guess that this was the way to do it.But who had the harebrained idea of doing a play for voices as a film, the most visual of media? All the actors, with the exception of Elizabeth Taylor, were very talented people, and were clearly doing their best, but conditions were against them. And even Taylor wasn't precisely BAD--it was just that so much of Rosie Probert's part was cut that one couldn't get a fair impression of what she could do with the part.And why was so much of not just Rosie Probert's part, but the play as a whole cut? If it was because of time limitations, what was with the insertion of the totally-irrelevant and gratuitous 'Norma Jean' sequence? I'd say, save your money and buy a recording of some other version of MILKWOOD done as an audio play as God and Dylan Thomas intended.

There is no way on earth that this film can ever compare visually with the lyrical lines written by Dylan Thomas.Although it is nice to hear Burton speak the words of his great idol, the inclusion of Elizabeth Taylor as Rosie Probert is a mistake.Full marks to Peter O'Toole for a fine effort as Captain Cat.