Mr Burton: A problem of nationalism

Nick Stradling, WALES in the MOVIES

A trailer for a movie about Richard Burton’s origin story has drawn a predictable response from some of my kindreds in the Welsh national movement.

A response which I regard as emblematic of its inability to reach new audiences and capitalise on the fragile state of UK cultural and political identity.

Burton, the man whose very existence in our consciousness hinges on the moment he chose to lose his Welsh accent in order to play English, Greeks and Macedonians on stage and screen – is to be played by an English actor.

This, apparently, is an act of English oppression against the Welsh. An affront to our identity and both a symbol and cause of our national predicament.

Do me a favour.

The facts that this movie is produced by Severn Screen and Ffilm Cymru, written by Welsh novelist and screenwriter Tom Bullough and directed by Marc Evans – the only helm to work in both Hollywood and Wales with a history of Welsh-langauge and Cymru-focus films and TV on his CV – doesn’t seem to matter.

Nor does Harry Lawtey, the actor concerned who, as far as the trailer shows, does a decent Welsh accent, speaks Welsh in the film, plus resembles a young Richard Jenkins more than perhaps any other young man, actor or otherwise, we could ever wish for.

This is one of those irrelevant imperfections individuals with problems such as ADH, PTS or OC often obsess over while missing the big picture. An exposed precipice where Welsh nationalists take their critical thinking skills to die a public death.

Which stories to tell?

Yes we’re talking movies here, but the subtext is Welsh independence. One of the failures of the whole conversation about Cymru’s autonomy, is the failure to expose the dissonance and misdirections at the heart of the UK framing.

Should Wales be independent? Can Wales be independent? Will Wales be independent?

These are very different conversations and we should dictate which one we address. This sets the narrative and exposes the logical fallacies, calls to emotion and straw men at the heart of British orthodoxy.

If Wales is too poor to be independent after 800 years of British rule, then logically Wales could be improved with independence.

This addresses the should and the can, but doesn’t go near to tackling the will.

When Brits tell you that Wales will never be independent, maybe tell them that neither of you have a crystal ball, but that’s not the debate you want to have.

When they tell you that wanting political independence equates to hatred of English people, remind them that you want to debate that Wales could survive independence, not speculate on irrelevant generalisations and dichotomies.

Emotional contradictions are perceived as anti-English grievance, whether we like it or not. We must also be aware of our own logical fallacies so that we can expose others’.

Cultural nationalists want more Welsh roles and stories written and produced (presumably by British writers in British productions) but that these Welsh roles are only played by Welsh actors (or at least, not English ones).

People’s views are often consolidated by such calls to emotion, but rarely changed for the better. To reach new audiences we must ask different questions, and be clear what we want to construct.

Self-Determination

We shouldn’t claim that an English actor playing a Welsh role is an act of oppression (less still in a Welsh production) while also celebrating the careers of Sheen, Hopkins, Phillips, Griffith and yes Burton – all of who made their names playing English roles.

Yes there’s a point that we shouldn’t equate the two due to the sheer numbers of English roles compared to Welsh. But it’s an argument which is tough to sell.

Your average person doesn’t understand why Michael Sheen can be Brian Clough but Harry Lawtey can’t be Richard Burton.

Such fallacies have a cry wolf effect. It’s an obvious double standard which turns people away.

The likely result of preoccupation with authentic casting is: less Welsh roles will be created. I doubt Robert Downey Jnr. will ever volunteer a Welsh accent again after the snobbery which came his way when he chose to play Dr Dolittle as a Welshman in front of 20 million international cinema goers (a massive favour to our nation by the way which went completely unthanked).

In an industry so key to our cultural confidence, where we already suffer from a dearth of quality opportunities, we cannot put another barrier in the way.

Who needs English oppressors when we are adept at sabotaging ourselves? We must direct our outrage carefully. Perhaps more inwardly?  Rather than the birthplace of actors, some more useful questions to ask would be:

• After 28 years, why has the Welsh Government agency Ffilm Cymru Wales, not produced a single Welsh historical film?
• Have you ever seen a heroic Welsh character (historical or contemporary, male or female, leading or supporting) in TV or film?
• Does Ffilm Cymru have an action plan to promote Wales internationally through the movies it produces
• Why are so many Welsh-funded genre films, such as Censor and Timestalker, not set in Wales nor feature any on screen Welsh representation?
• Does any collaboration exist between our film and tourism agencies?
• Do our Welsh films bring demonstrable boosts to the economy?

How far can we take the “authentic casting” question anyway?

Most of us in the south east have friends or family who’ve never spent more than ten consecutive days of their lives outside Cymru, but whose attempts at a Treorchy or Pwllheli accent would make William Hurt and Tara Fitzgerald wince.

Ignore this reddest of Welsh herrings, let actors be actors and direct your curiosity towards the bigger picture; the woeful representation and marketing of our stories on British, American and Welsh screens.