I have never really understood why so many stories of "star crossed" lovers are always compared to Romeo and Juliet, which, fair enough, was about families at odd with each other, but, in my opinion, Solomon and Gaenor is so much more. A really sad story about bigoted people who are just perpetuating a centuries old hatred of people who are different to themselves. The supposedly Christian people who should practise what they preach and the Jewish people who will not integrate for fear of losing something of themselves in the process is the real dilemma of this story. Solomon and Gaenor are the ultimate losers in this harsh Welsh world of miner's strikes and religious bigotry in the early years of the 20th century when everything was seen as back and white and there was no place for shades of grey inbetween. More people should have the opportunity to see this film which, as far as I know, was never shown in cinemas in Australia and only consigned to a late night viewing time on a little watched TV station, as there is a lesson to be learned from this really well acted film .

Good movie with some solid performance. and yeah . this happens still alot in many 3rd world countries. cast and religion is important . but one(among tghem) should be very careful when going for love to another different religious person.

****Minor Spoilers****** This movie gets my Thomas Hardy seal of approval. As we know Mr. Hardy was a nineteenth century English novelist who wrote novels about people for whom life was not going to allow a happy ending. Not even close. Whatever could go wrong goes wrong, and then some. Life seems beyond their control; they want to love, be happy, have a life, but it's just not going to happen. They are doomed.

So too are Solomon and Gaenor, the protagonists in this wonderful 'little' English movie. Set in turn of the century Wales, Solomon is a young Jewish peddler, who has recently taken over a new route peddling fabrics in a valley where he isn?t known. Gaenor is the daughter of working-poor Welsh coal miners. They meet and fall in love. But Solomon lives a lie and pretends to be a gentile, not just to Gaenor?s friends and family but to Gaenor also. And he keeps the relationship secret from his own family. I don't have to paint you a picture where this movie is heading.

The cast is wonderful, and it's well worth the rental. Just bring the Kleenex.