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Solomon & Gaenor is a Welsh drama film from 1999, directed by Paul Morrison, which portrays a heartbreaking story of two individuals from different cultural backgrounds who fall in love, yet face insurmountable obstacles that ultimately lead to tragedy. The film is set in the early 20th century and brings together two young people from opposing communities. Solomon (Ioan Gruffudd) is a Jewish man who lives in Cardiff and runs a tailoring business. While out travelling through the valleys for his business, he meets Gaenor (Nia Roberts), a young and beautiful woman from a Welsh mining family. They develop an immediate connection and their relationship quickly becomes passionate.

However, Solomon and Gaenor's romance is short-lived as their families have a longstanding hatred towards each other. Solomon's family are Jewish and therefore not considered to be part of the local community, while Gaenor's family are Welsh and Protestant. The tension between these two groups is palpable, and their love story is doomed from the onset.

Despite their many attempts to keep their relationship a secret, Solomon and Gaenor's love is discovered, and their families are outraged. Gaenor's brother and father confront Solomon, leading to a brutal fight that sets into motion a tragic chain of events. As tensions escalate between the families, Solomon and Gaenor decide to run away together, hoping to escape the hatred and prejudice of their families and live a life of love and happiness.

However, their hopes are soon dashed when Gaenor's father discovers her location and threatens her and her unborn child. The community is turned against them, and they are forced to flee for their lives. Tragically, their attempt at a peaceful life is cut short, and their love story ends in an utterly heart-wrenching climax.

Throughout the film, the divide between the Welsh and Jewish communities, as well as the consequences of love ignorantly crossing cultural borders, is explored. The film sheds light on the prejudices and societal expectations of the time and foregrounds the consequences of these beliefs on the people trying to challenge them.

The acting of the entire cast is superb, with Gruffudd and Roberts delivering moving performances that accurately express the depth of emotion and torment their characters endure.

Overall, Solomon & Gaenor is a poignant and powerful film that expertly depicts the consequences of cultural and religious intolerance, as well as the atrocities that arise from xenophobic beliefs. While devastatingly tragic, the film's poignant commentary on human relationships and society's treatment of minority groups remains as relevant today as it was two decades ago when it was first released.

Solomon & Gaenor is a 1999 drama with a runtime of 1 hour and 45 minutes. It has received moderate reviews from critics and viewers, who have given it an IMDb score of 6.8 and a MetaScore of 58.