The doomed lovers in Solomon & Gaenor are from opposite sides of the tracks in the Welsh Valleys of 1911. Gaenor (Nia Roberts) is a God-fearing Welsh lass, Solomon (Ioan Gruffudd) a Jewish salesman. They meet and fall in love, against both tradition and religion. They're a bit like Romeo & Juliet rewritten by Thomas Hardy, except their story has none of the former's passion nor the latter's drama.
It doesn't help having everything either grey, brown or black, nor a pace that would try the patience of a snail. Writer-director Paul Morrison handles his actors well, coaxing a superb performance from Maureen Lipman as the Jewish matriarch. But even in the first throes of passion, the lovers never have any fun. Neither does the audience.
