The key facts
- Tarantino, Kylie Minogue and RZA starred in Jamie Adams's new film Tangled Up in Blue in Porthcawl, Wales
- Minogue's family comes from Maesteg near Porthcawl; they emigrated to Australia in the 1950s
- The film has no release date yet; the director is aiming for summer 2027
Hollywood stars in a seaside town
Quentin Tarantino, Kylie Minogue and Wu-Tang Clan rapper RZA came to the Welsh seaside town of Porthcawl to shoot the new film Tangled Up in Blue by local director Jamie Adams. BBC News reported on the stars' visit, which took place earlier this year in a BBC News story (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cmn068j9z4w3o). For Adams, working with the stars in his hometown was, in his words, an out-of-body experience: one scene was shot in a pub his father used to run — then called the Ship and Castle, with a boat his father had brought from Weymouth serving as the bar.
Plot and filming method
In the film, Tarantino plays a talent manager who has worked with stars for 40 years and finds himself locked in a hotel bar between a former lover and a lost soul. Adams shoots in an improvisational style — much of the material is created spontaneously, without a pre-written script. According to the director, Tarantino praised this approach highly, comparing it to the cinema of the French New Wave of the late 1950s to late 1960s. The idea of making a film in his hometown came after Adams shot a film in France in a week.
Kylie Minogue's Welsh roots
Getting Minogue involved in the project turned out to be even easier than with Tarantino, who, according to Adams, had never been to Wales before. The singer, who has described herself as half Welsh,has family roots near the filming location: her mother Carol Jones and her Welsh-speaking grandmother Millie Jones emigrated from Maesteg near Bridgend to Australia in the 1950s. Minogue has rarely been able to visit her ancestral homeland, so she agreed to take part right away.
What's next
Most of the filming took place in Cardiff and Porthcawl. The film has no release date yet: the director is aiming for summer 2027 and hopes to hold the premiere in Cardiff with the star-studded cast. According to Adams, Tarantino and Minogue's visit is still being discussed in the local pub.
Image source, Jamie Adams The visit of Tarantino and Minogue to Porthcawl has become the stuff of legends in the local pub and community
Image source, Jamie Adams Adams (second from left) uses techniques in his films that mean they are filmed quickly with improvisation
The Parkway Hotel was another location for filming in June
Image source, Jamie Adams Adams says people will continue to talk about the movie in Porthcawl for a long time
