Matthew Rhys reveals battle to get a biopic of Owain Glyndŵr made

William Wallace, the legendary Scots warrior who led his nation into battle against the English in the years around 1300 was captured, tortured and executed something similar to Owain Glyndŵr. Wouldn't that fact categorise him as a "loser" too? They made a film about him though, didn't they!!

He never lost! He went into hiding having did more damage to England than Wallace did. And no one ever took up the offer of the English in locating him. In William Wallace deserved a Film, then Glydnwr certainly does.

But that's just it, Glyndwr didn't 'lose' in the accepted sense, he was never caught and despite offers of amnesty, still didn't come forward. Like the Arthurian hero, the mythology he played to the extreme, he simply disappeared, ready to reappear in Wales' greatest hour of need. It's quite interesting, Glyndwr was never forgotten in Wales like the rather insipid Llywelyn ein Llyw Olaf (sic, and deliberate :)) who was largely forgotten about until resurrected in the Victorian age. Glynwdr also belongs to all comers, from all political directions, the Glyndwr myth has something to offer all. Llywelyn ELlO on the other hand could really only be rehabilitated by the extreme right in politics, given that he was an out and out autocrat hell bent on establishing a Welsh feudal state. The myth of Glyndwr, (and make no mistake, myths are needed when it comes to nation building, something that Glyndwr himself knew only too well) makes a great epic tale, containing many elements. Many of the ordinary English soldiery believed that Glyndwr could control the weather, which was as responsible as Glyndwr's forces for giving the English king's army a hard time when campaigning in Wales. Glyndwr was also perhaps the first Welsh leader to exploit the notion of a distinct Welsh identity, with many of the Welsh resident in England returning to Wales to join the cause. Glyndwr would make an excellent subject for a major movie, and the fact that this kind of story has international appeal, as the themes are international, (Seventh Samurai in a Welsh setting anyone?) and certainly Hollywood has had little problem exploiting medieval period stories and making a mint at the same time, and at the very least, some money could be saved on the building of sets, as the original locations still exist, largely intact and no need to digitally enhance buildings in the landscape, as happened in the case of First Knight... As someone above has said, there is no shortage of historic events in Welsh history that would make great films. We all probably know about the film Peterloo, so why not a film about the Newport Rising, which, for authenticity's sake would have to be made largely in Welsh. Or the Merthyr Rising. Perhaps some of the Alexander Cordell novels dealing with aspects of Welsh history could offer storylines and plots for popular historic dramas, or even, an epic series of films based on the Mabinogi. We know how well the Lord of the Rings series went down, so why not the far older mythological stories from Wales?

Owain Glyndwr is roaming the hills, waiting for the right moment.

Does Matthew Rhys have some way for supporters of this project to gather?

Keep trying Mathew, the history of Tywysog Owain Glyndwr and his War of Cymric Independence definately should be told in a big Hollywood epic. He is a much more interesting character than William Wallace as were his main supporters such as Rhys Gethin, Rhys Ddu, Hywel y wyallt, Gruffydd Young, Crach y Ffinnant and so on. Owai was chosen to be Tywysog Cymru by the Cymry. He led a long war, much longer than both world wars, a small nation of 500, 000 against a country of over 3 million and all its more sophisticated war machinary which included cannons by 1408. Owai was known as The Mab Dorogan - Son of Prophecy and, there’s no dout in my mind that when he finally realized that the Cymry could not win, he delibarately staged his dissapearance, with the assistance of his most trusted commanders and advisers, so that the phrophecy would stay intact that a ‘Mab Darogan’ would one day rise again to free the Cymric Nation. He was considered a wizare by the English forces who believed him to be in control of the weather. He was a trained Lawyer, an accomplished warrior. Its all there, just waiting for a spectacular blog buster to be made that would pay dividends in profit as well as in tourism benefit for Cymru.