infoEden Valley (1994)
Amber Films (Producer)
100 min, 16mm & 35mm
Colour/optical
Feature film
Jury Prize, Créteil, Paris, 1995
Best British Independent Feature, North West Film Festival, Southport, 1995
The film is set within a harness racing fraternity and explores the conflict between urban and rural values through the medium of an evolving relationship between father and son.
The main character in the film, Hoggy, abandoned his wife and son ten years earlier to establish himself in an alternative lifestyle, living in a caravan and caring for his horses. The world gets turned upside down by the arrival of his teenage son, who has a prison sentence hanging over him. Billy has lived his life on an inner-city housing estate, and in his lifestyle theft and drugs are the norm. Using dramatic seasonal changes within the horse-trainer's environment we follow the development of this fragile relationship. Both father’s and son's value systems are tested, with dramatic consequences.
The roots of the film lie in the making of Seacoal, which was released in 1985. The film, depicted the lives of seacoalers on the Northumberland coast, and introduced members of Amber to a passion for horses, and the addictive pursuit of harness racing.
The Laidler family, who were featured in Seacoal, proved to have a profound impact. It was they who talked us into buying our first horse, taught us the rudiments of training and driving, and encouraged our bartering and re-cycling skills. They wove the web that pulled us into the activity, and secured our entry into their environment and the world of harness racing.
Our method of working is based on building long-term relationships within communities. Our aim is to enter into people's lives in a way that provides an authenticity to film-making that goes beyond simple realism. After becoming established in the harness racing community, we introduced actor Brian Hogg into it. His character, Hoggy, was developed over a period during which Brian immersed himself in the lifestyle, contributed to the development of the script, and participated in other essential tasks such as set building and horse training.
In contrast, Darren Bell, who played Billy, his son, came directly into his first film role from a background of life on an inner-city housing estate. The film was shot sequentially to facilitate Billy's introduction into an initially alien environment and to reflect on the story of Billy. The film schedule spanned a twelve-month period. We worked with a small crew, two main characters and considerable good will from the harness racing community.
AMBER FILMS
Made under the auspices of the ACTT Workshop Declaration with financial assistance from Northern Arts and Channel Four Television.
Cast includes: Brian Hogg, Darren Bell, The Laidler Family, Mike Elliot
REVIEWS
Uncompromising...as riveting and as heart-breaking as any good Hollywood tearjerker gets. Bill Hoffman, New York Post
Tough-minded movie... Hogg's exceptional portrayal... a finely nuanced character study of a proud working-class man who has heroic qualities. Stephen Holden, The New York Times
Bell has the intensity of a younger Daniel Day Lewis. Village Voice
Once again, Amber's film is notable for its authenticity, its muscular, naturalistic performances, and its unsentimental respect for the traditional values of working-class life; stereotypes are avoided, so that even 'would-be old-age traveler Hoggy is never turned into a flawless hero. While the film is finally no less political than its predecessors, it is no dry thesis. Droll humour, a celebratory sense of community (and harness racing), and a genuine sensitive feeling for nature and landscape take the movie beyond simplistic notions of 'realism'. Proof-positive that good British filmmaking is alive and living.... hundreds of miles from Wardour Street. Geoff Andrew, Time Out
Newcastle-based Amber Films is the crockpot of the film industry (simmer for hours) against Hollywood's microwave (zap, ding and it's done). David Whetstone, The Journal
Amber takes a shoestring budget and delivers a ruggedly authentic, un-stereotypical and unsentimental celebration of community and the restorative power of raw nature. What's On, Birmingham
If you haven't discovered the work of the Amber Film Collective, you should do so. Over a period of some 25 years, they have developed a way of capturing on film, ways of life which are rarely recorded. The authentic feel of the film, no less than the unforced poetry of the images, is remarkable, and Brian Hogg seems so real that you feel sure that he's not an actor (actually he is). The importance of what Amber is doing is unquestionable, and they are doing it right. Mansel Stimpson, What's On, London
It has an authenticity which is palpable and performances from Brian Hogg and Darren Bell that are totally unforced and true. It is also very well shot. No director is named, but whoever accomplished Eden Valley knows his or her job. Derek Malcolm, Guardian
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