It's the opposite of an action flic. To enjoy this you have to let pictures speak. I am biased l admit because the film captures so many of my own feelings about rural Wales but l know this is strictly minority viewing.

After a while I got the point.

Landscapes, simple rural life, general farming, mobile library, community school kids, and old village people with their pets and hobbies bore the crap out of you? Then you shouldn't watch this cause it'll put you to sleep, as the title suggests, quite effectively.

This documentary unfolds very slowly, using a series of scenes depicting life in Trefeurig, the rural Welsh farming community where the filmmaker grew up. I particularly enjoyed a sequence in which a conductor rehearses an off-screen choir, intercut with some visually stunning landscapes. What isn't here are answers to questions that some viewers may have about the residents shown on screen or events that have occurred. This film is best taken as a visual ode to an all-but-forgotten way of life.

A medatitve vision of rural mid Wales where traditional community is being eroded by modern life. There is no narrative to the documentary but through the visuals and the overheard dialogues of the inhabitants the meaning is crystal clear unlike the Chomsky quote that the title alludes to.

by Lauren Witts for remotegoat on 16/07/09 This first film by Gideon Koppel charts the slow progress of modernity as it reaches a small farming community in mid Wales. Intentionally slow-paced, the film imposes no grand narrative, yet is subtle in conveying its story. From the closing of the local school, to the erection of a new road sign, the changes are small, but it is clear from the film how important and widely impacting these happenings and events are for the local community. Portraits of the community are shown through gatherings such as the farm auction, an agricultural show and the local choir practice, where minor discussions between the townspeople reveal how change is unfolding. Between this, images of the landscape provide a backdrop that is both beautiful and wild. The film is warm in its humour as it records meetings between the driver of the mobile-library van, that makes its way around the village, as he optimistically recommends titles to his visitors. An appreciation for the quirkiness of rural life is found in the judging of a best-garden competition and in a farmer attempting to herd sheep, whilst wearing a distracting yellow hat. The birth of calves and piglets are captured alongside the taxidermy of a dead owl, and the visit to a gravestone of a deceased husband, as the film presents a kind of meditation on life and death, endings and beginnings. Working with the muted poetry of the community and its story, the soundtrack by Aphex Twin, is both subdued and sensational. Perhaps one of the least conspicuous elements of the film, it is also one of the most successful. Sleep Furiously is compelling, beautiful and affecting on a subtle level. Truly touching in places and warmly humorous in others, the at times quirky, cinematography sustains a level of brilliance throughout that makes this a very special film.

animals imho very silently make this film, and i couldn't believe until credits that aphex twin made the music.

a documentery set in rural wales and a small village there, with no narration to speak of, just folk going about there day and lives, and for for what it is, its pretty watchable, no explosive moments, just simple tales, the doc runs nicely, and sets up the people nicely for who they are

Beautiful film about the way of life in a small farming community in mid-Wales.

If Tarkovsky directed Country File

'Sleep' would have been a more appropriate title.

from the first viewing i can only enjoy the surface of this gorgeous movie, from the second viewing i only get the idea of this movie but still missing a lot details, i guess this movie requires a quiet concentration

Lyrical , poetic, impressionistic picture of rural Welsh life which oozes warm emotion from every frame. Ode to a way of life that is disappearing day by day. That feeling of sad nostalgia never overwhelms the director, though and he has crafted a thing of beauty.

a lovley peaceful film about a very different life

la belleza de una vida sencilla en el campo

had the potential of a really good documentary but somehow, it didnt fall into place... its dull and mundane as a result

This is a film with no actors but full of characters, no script but a timeless story, no particular action but an urgent, vital message. By avoiding almost all the usual techniques of the modern documentary and also, crucially, being a member of the community he's chronicling, film maker Gideon Koppel becomes the ultimate embedded journalist. With a landscape painter's eye for composition, Koppel captures a tableau then leaves the camera running for so much longer than we're accustomed to. Such longeurs slow us down and allow time for thoughts and feelings to swell. As we experience rural life at its own pace we become closer to the people we meet. Their concerns become ours and the emotional power of the film develops a searing momentum. Koppel's film has been hailed as a lyrical masterpiece by many of the most eminent film makers and critics. Perhaps its lasting achievement will be to stop us allowing an entire way of life to die silently and unnoticed.

This is a beautiful little film detailing a community which is slowly depleting and a way of life soon to be forgotten. Reminded me a bit of Errol Morris' early work, which is always a good thing.

The title made more and more sense close to the end... Taught me a bit about farming ;) And, most intriguingly, the film reminded me of my own childhood - which was totally different from this - thanks, I think, to the camera set so low (I like observing people's hands). Will try to stoop down whenever I can from now on! Highly recommended to all Aberites :D

Surprisingly affecting. Koppel uses a static camera technique to great effect, composing images of rural life and in particular of a part of Wales he clearly knows intimately and that stick in the memory. Equally the soundscape of the film creates a subtle and evocative sense of atmosphere and calm. If there is any failing its that the film seems to drift a little bit in the last third. But as a meditation on a way of living that seems to be disappearing (in a small close knit community) and as a reflection on the character of a place this is a wonderful little film.