"How Green Was My Valley" by John Ford (1941)

A wonderful example of big-hearted, old-fashioned Hollywood sentimental melodrama, "How Green Was My Valley" was cinematic equivalent of "Angela's Ashes" (novel that looks back at impoverished childhood with affection and tenderness) - the world described here was already long gone by the time movie (and the novel that inspired it) was made, so it might appear almost unreal to modern audiences raised on all sorts of comfort and privileges but there is something warm and magical in this description of life in small Welsh coal mining village. 

Nowadays we are used to movies as grand spectacles, huge fireworks and all sorts of technical wizardry - nothing of it you will find here, this is all about everyday life in 19th century Wales, where strong, taciturn men lined up to work in mines and womenfolk waited for them at home with dinners. Nobody was allowed to grab the food before prayers were said and children (no matter how grown up they might have been) treated their parents with respect and gentleness. We follow the story trough the eyes of the youngest son (Roddy McDowall) who with touching innocence witnesses all the comings and goings in the village - the poverty, gossips, weddings, disasters, quarrels, births and deaths. He even falls in love. "I think I must have fallen in love with Bronwen even then and I must have been in love with her all my life since. It is silly to think a child could fall in love. If you think about it like that, mind. But I am the child that was, and nobody knows how I feel, except only me."

John Ford created something truly magical out of this ordinary story - the script is magnificent, mind you, it really inspires you to find the novel - and he gets brilliant performances from his actors who all show great compassion for characters. Each single villager, priest or gossipy housekeeper is excellent, no matter how small the role and for every depressing moment, there is a light comic touch that makes everything uplifting and beautiful. It is a starry-eyed look at the innocence and childhood, the time that each of us know it can never be repeated - reality might have been tough and full of hardships, but what we remember is love and affection. The movie tugged at my heartstrings big time and I am not surprised at all the accolades and praises won at the time.