PodBill Just what I expected

Afouotos Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Odelecol Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

Bluebell Alcock Ok... Let's be honest. It cannot be the best movie but is quite enjoyable. The movie has the potential to develop a great plot for future movies

Tim Kidner Well, not really, but when we see the primary school class scenes, near the start, that is what immediately struck me and I'm sure anyone who's also seen and enjoyed the phenomenally popular and successful charting of a year of a French primary school and their teacher will know what I'm saying. Those who haven't - and enjoyed this, should check it out - directed by Nicolas Philibert, released 2002 and is sometimes known by its less elegant English translation 'To Be and To Have'.Now that I've established that Sleep Furiously isn't just about the primary school (but its importance resonates throughout) I agree with nearly all the comments from reviewers, from the positive to the critical. I can see why the young Welsh couple found it clunky and boring and casting a backwards look on their country-folk yet I can see it for what it is. I too, find it distasteful and mocking for comfortable people to see 'twee folk doing what comes naturally and jolly good luck to them' - as they open another bottle of wine.The reasons why I was attracted to buying, almost blind, except for reviews here and the advert, is because I'm an Englishman who lived and worked in Wales for a good portion of my adult life and for a time, dealt with agricultural policy. Very low down the ladder, I must add. I was also brought up on a farm myself. But mainly, because I'm very familiar with south Wales and re-visit regularly and with images of north Wales so prevalent in the touristy media (and now having taken up my hobby as photographer as part-time job) it's the oft forgotten 'middle-bit' of Wales that I've seen almost nothing of.Yet, of course, it is the main farming area and mention is made of the Royal Welsh Show (which I have been to) which is held near Builth Wells, in Mid Wales - not north or south, where more people could visit and make it more commercial but where the heart of the real country is.Yet, for all the predictability there is around people baking cakes and choosing books at the mobile library (I recall those in my childhood - and I'm mid 40's, so not THAT old!) it is the anticipation of what it is that comes next. Yes, you could fall asleep and no-one would really blame you but it also will bring down your blood pressure and I've always found Welsh used as everyday language, actually rather lovely, if that doesn't sound too patronising and how, with no obvious reason, English will be used instead, despite it being the same speakers and subject!It obviously hasn't found an audience as wide or large as To Be and to Have (which has been shown on BBC4) and it'd be futile to try and work out why and why not. For a moment I wondered if this was a vanity project by the director but I'm sure you'll see why I soon dropped this idea!I enjoyed the few time-lapsed sections probably the most - the curtains gently billowing in the breeze was sublime and the people with the fireworks, complete with a burst of the atmospheric electronic music, wonderful.Whilst not the bravest, nor the most cutting edge of even engaging documentary ever made, it is certainly good and I'm now looking forward to watching it with my 80 year old father and his sister over Christmas. He has always enjoyed nature programmes - and One Man and His Dog - plus attractive country scenery and the pace will suit them both to a tee. And as an old pig farmer, the sights and sounds of the piglets being born will be special, too, I'm sure.

rogerdarlington The oxymoronic and enigmatically titled "Sleep Furiously" is the slowest film you will ever see. First-time director, producer and cinematographer Gideon Koppel portrays Trefeurig, the Welsh farming community in Ceredigion where he grew up and where his parents found refuge from Nazi Germany.Over the seasons of a year, we are witness to the remorseless decline of a rural way of life that is serene but sentimentalised. There is no narration and no narrative and the dialogue - much of it in Welsh - is often banal, yet there are some stunning scenes and the whole thing has a certain elegiac charm.During the performance, my young Welsh friend leaned over to my half-Welsh wife and commented: "Now I remember why I left Wales".

mic_mac I loved this film - I loved the slow pace of it, the meditative quality, the way it reflected the quieter slower rate at which village & agricultural life turns.The space & time devoted to "little happening" was perfect for me - especially when it was showing the beauty of the Welsh landscape.The simplicity & honesty of the tales, allowed to naturally come across was beautiful & reminded me of David Lynch's "Straight Story".The way that the village, community & the surrounding agriculture seemed ancient, only moving with the seasons was deftly shown. Poignantly, simultaneously the film also showed it was worryingly at imminent risk of losing some of its essential aspects.If you can't sit still for 5 minutes & enjoy a setting sun, running river or rolling hillside, if you can't remain quiet & enjoy the silence, then this film's probably not for you. I'm afraid there isn't even a single car chase (only a brief sheep chase).For everyone else, turn down the revs & sink into this low-key masterpiece. ______________ Update after Celia's comments - I don't understand why everything needs to have some perfectly realised & resolved answer - life's not like this, sometimes we never find out what happens, and sometimes our lives are simply enriched by inexplicable yet beautiful things (like this film).This is the sort of film that is a soft target for accusations of "pretension" (or Celia's "Emperor's New Clothes") but there really is no pretence/pretension that this is going to be a normal A->B->C narrative, it's just not what it is. It's broadly filmed as documentary, but not a prescriptive one. What it is to me at least is a beautifully shot vignette, with snapshots, snippets & moments of many lives and stories, none of which does it try to fully provide a resolution. Yes I've got questions I'd like answered (my friend wondered did the librarian ever use the laptop for anything more than a place to stamp the books?) but I don't expect to get the answers from the film itself, and that's OK by me.The closest thing I've seen to it is the Patrick Keiller masterpieces "London" & "Robinson In Space" yet they are scripted, narrated & very thought out mixing esoteric elements of art, history, poetry, economics trivia and wit, all together again with great photography. The simpler more natural (no commentary, no sign of a behind-camera interviewer) version perhaps makes for a less focused film, but also one I just allowed myself to go with its slow, winding, meditative pace.

tao902 A documentary about a Welsh farming community that is struggling to survive. Despite some beautiful scenic shots the film is awkwardly edited and of excessive duration. Many shots are long with little happening in them. It is not a good sign when you're desperately waiting for the film to end. This film does the farming community no favours. Some history, context and explanations for the village's demise would have given the film a clear purpose but we get little more than disconnected shots which are supposedly intended to have meaning but end up close to meaningless. The word 'pretentious' comes to mind. By the end of the documentary I didn't care if the community survived! Half the residents appeared to be English anyway! (I did sleep for a while, and yes, furiously).