Taking Hugh for Granted

The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain

Listen on

Episode notes

Join Oscar and Diggory as they climb up a proverbial mountain by reviewing The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain (Christopher Monger, 1995). Quite possibly the most unnecessarily long title in modern film history, Reginald Anson (Hugh Grant) is a cartographer sent to the small South Wales village of Ffynnon Garw, and is the said Englishman who went up a hill but came down a mountain. 

It's 1917, in the middle of the Great War. When Anson and his fellow cartographer announce that their "mountain" is in fact a hill, the villagers are understandably disappointed and furious. Not to be outwitted by a rule (and the Englishmen who enforce it), the villagers set out to make their hill into a mountain, but to do so they must keep the English from leaving, before the job is done.

Make sure you're following Taking Hugh for Granted on Instagram and Facebook (@TakingHughforGranted) as well as Twitter (@TakingHugh). You can get in touch with us there or via our email [email protected]

For those of you that want to skip disclaimers, opening theme tunes, salutations, synopses and go straight to the film analysis, head to 04:48.