Rent Black Mountain Poets (2015)

Interesting, patchy, low-budget Welsh film about a poets' retreat - Black Mountain Poets review by PV

This film is clearly influenced by Mike Leigh's Nuts in May - it's shot in a naturalistic fashion and obviously improvised at parts (occasionally that means knowing glances between actors which remind me of stand-up and TV sketch-shows like French and Saunders).

But, after a patchy start when I thought the story would go nowhere, this develops into a study of female jealously really when a poet's on/off girlfriend arrives. The film has some great lines and scenes, and some funny parts, but is uneven. And can one ever believe 2 young women would live as con-women (or as they say 'con-persons') stealing cars etc?

This reminds me of why I avoid writers' retreats and don't get involved in the local Welshie poetry scene (dominated by the same elite - the 'crachach' in Welsh).

A silly ending (no spoilers), but that's OK.

The best thing about this film is the way it massively takes the mickey out of a pretentious poetry scene which fully deserves it. I really hate slam poetry evenings and performance poetry!

3.5 stars rounded down for the film's weak start and ending.

Unwatchable! - Black Mountain Poets review by CP Customer

I really looked forward to this film, but when it came to it it was just unwatchable. The hand-held camera work was irritating, it just didn't flow, the plot was never believable, and I literally couldn't watch it. Thank goodness I wasn't watching in the cinema and could make good use of the fast forward button!

Should come with onions. - Black Mountain Poets review by CP Customer

A complete load of old tripe. Far too long even when played at 64 times normal speed. A complete waste of time, money, and effort.