UNDER MILK WOOD (15) 87

DYLAN Thomas called his magnificent work, Under Milk Wood, a ‘play for voices.’

That is the main problem with this film from Kevin Allen and starring singer turned actress turned Question Time panellist, Charlotte Church. The visual language simply smothers the dialogue and robs Thomas’ words of their impact.

The eccentric residents of Llareggub go about their daily business, indulging their carnal whims in sleeping and waking dreams, while blind seaman Captain Cat (Rhys Ifans) keeps watch over the community.

Mrs Organ Morgan (Karen Elli), who runs the general store, imparts salacious local gossip to her disinterested husband (Aneirin Hughes), while lonely landlord Sinbad Sailors (Bradley Freegard) lusts from afar for demure schoolteacher Miss Gossamer Beynon (Sara Lloyd-Gregory). Elsewhere, Polly Garter (Charlotte Church) sings about former suitors as she scrubs floors, and drunken lout Mr Waldo (Dai Protheroe) reminisces about the simple pleasures of his childhood.

The overall effect is to downgrade Thomas’ play into another TV soap. Church, like the other actors, appears to have lost sight of the original play and opts for sexy over subtlety. The overall effect is to turn one of Wales’ greatest plays into little more than a hen party at a dodgy seaside resort.

But don’t let the film spoil the book, or in this case, the play. Grab hold of the radio version starring Richard Burton and let your imagination bring Under Milk Wood to life, much more than this dreary little film ever could.

*Also showing: Fresh Dressed (15) 83 mins

HIP hop and fashion have swaggered side by side since the music became a cultural force on the streets of America, giving birth to a Fresh look of fat-laced training shoes, hats and sunglasses. Sacha Jenkins' documentary charts this close relationship between music and couture in a revealing history lesson that combines a wealth of archival materials with interviews with key industry figures such as Damon Dash, Nas Jones, Karl Kani, Andre Leon Talley, Kanye West and Pharrell Williams. In the process, Fresh Dressed records how the urban trend of oversized trousers and graffiti-strewn jackets went from the streets to designer catwalks and onto mainstream high street clothing rails.