Swansea Love Story

Swansea Love Story

8.26
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Ratings: 8.26/10 from 88 users.

Swansea Love StoryVICE befriends a gang of young addicts caught up in South Wales’ largely ignored heroin epidemic.

The intimate look into their lives shows how economic depression, family breakdown, and addiction create unbreakable cycles for the people in their grip.

In 2009, Swansea drug agencies reported a 180 percent rise in heroin use, and it’s visible on the city’s streets.

Early one morning we meet a young, homeless couple named Amy and Cornelius in a city centre alley. As heroin-addicted alcoholics, they're smack in the middle of two of South Wales’s most ever-present epidemics.

The makers of Swansea Love Story describe it as a "funny and sad, heart warming and heart breaking" look at the real lives of those featured.

Warning: explicit language, drug use, mild violence, and mild sexual situations

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Rob Lewis
Rob Lewis
5 years ago

I can't believe that comments are so negative. Why not have human compassion for others? Seriously these are real people with real families

E. Hall
E. Hall
6 years ago

@ivorytowerone (however, as this doc came out long ago, the comment I'm replying to is probably quite old and the OP won't probably see it, but I just want to reply in case someone comes across it) I'm sorry to say, you're completely mistaken about the nature of English dialects. I suppose before I start, I should describe my details here so as to help qualify what I'm about to write - I have a BA English, an MA in Curriculum and Instruction specializing in Teaching English as a Second/Foreign Language, a Colorado State Teaching License with a ESL endorsement and over 10 years English teaching experience (6 years at the university level in Japan) Oh, and I also come from "across the pond" and am a speaker of Western American English Dialect :)

Ok, here goes... It is in fact true that all dialects are valid. Rather than looking at English as something that exists as a singular thing, it's better to consider it more as a conceptual thing. It's much like actual physical tables VS. the *idea* of a table. There are many kinds of tables that exhibit different properties, but they all have the quality of "tableness". The conceptual table doesn't actually exist except as a concept to refer back to when thinking about tables. The same goes for English. English does not exist as a pure form, but only as an intangible concept. However, there are many kinds of English that do exist. These dialects differ in many ways, sometimes drastically, and yet, they all share the quality of "Englishness". "Ebonics" (as you refer to it incorrectly, it's actually referred to as African American Vernacular, or AVE by linguists) is one of these dialects, as is the Welsh dialect found in Swansea spoken by the subjects in the film. All English dialects are "regular" meaning they have their own rules and standardized forms that their speakers rely upon to make themselves intelligible to other speakers of the same dialect. In other words, you can write a grammar book for African American Vernacular English (and people have done!). And yes, you'll be happy to hear that I agree that the form of English you speak is a "standard" form as you say (it probably being either Western American, Midland American, or Inland Northern American English depending on where you're from) and is a completely valid form of English (which might come as a disappointment to hear for any number of speakers of British dialects of English... yes, American Englishes are also English!) but a dialect of English is only "standard" in the region it's commonly spoken in and among the speakers who speak it. Therefore, ivorytowerone, if you happen to travel to, say, Scotland, you would find suddenly that your dialect of English is no longer standard... in that *specific* context, though it remains a valid form of English where you live. The issue that arises that I think you're pointing to, but are incorrectly assessing, is the matter of status. Dialects in any given region will commonly be seen as deviant or "incorrect" if they hold lower status in society. This is indeed a problem when a person who speaks a lower-status dialect has to, for example, interview for a job where their dialect is regarded with disdain by the interviewer, and therefore might very well hinder them in getting the job. It doesn't take much imagination to see how this becomes a problem when applied to a variety of situations where the perception of a lower-status dialect by a speaker of a high-status dialect comes into play. Discrimination, conscious or unconscious, is often the result. Some people who work with such issues recommend that people of lower-status dialects learn to become proficient in a higher-status dialect, and then switch back and forth between their dialect and the higher-status dialect as needed (prominent educator Lisa Delpit argues this position). Others view this as essentially asking marginalized groups to genuflect to to whites and is therefore continuing to insult their dignity (though there are many lower-status dialects spoken in America by whites as well, e.g. - Appalachian English). They would like to "normalize" lower-status dialects in society so that the stigma against lower-status dialects disappears altogether (the effect on the BBC is one notable example of this kind of thinking. It used to be that the BBC radio announcers used to speak solely in "Received Pronunciation" which was commonly thought of as "proper English" at that time despite being spoken by a minority of speakers, but now BBC announcers come from a diverse number of dialect backgrounds. This is not by accident, this is intentional on the BBC's part). I personally don't know what the solution is, I typically go with whatever is most practical and expedient, but one this is for certain, calling lower-status dialects "bad" as you have isn't helping the problem whatever solution you might prefer. Thanks for reading!

Mark Gaboury
Mark Gaboury
6 years ago

A psycho smashing people's toes off in drug-addicted Swansea. That's a good environment to live in, innit? Used to be a lot of good Christian influence in Wales, yeah? Not like that these days, mate.

bluetortilla
bluetortilla
9 years ago

I couldn't watch it all. I just felt it was gratuitous, shock value, and offering no hope or solutions. To me it was extraordinarily painful to watch a close up of a young man nodding out. Without putting such images into a context, it's just sort of nauseating.
Why don't they attack the people, the governments, and the system that's promoting the heroin trade? It's what imperial powers have been doing for centuries now. What's the point of this documentary?

Alan-Charles Bishop
Alan-Charles Bishop
11 years ago

i studied at Swansea. watching this brought back memories.. swansea is the graveyard of ambition and really is a place that rarely people leave. alcohol is a much bigger problem there.

URofWORTH
URofWORTH
11 years ago

I'm in the U.S.A. and just saw Swansea Love Story as a link below something else I was watching, which was completely unrelated. After I watched this docudrama I was left feeling helpless and so sad... I want to scoop up these people and help them some how and help them feel of worth. That poor girl who lost a baby and all the sexual and physical abuse - did she ever really stand a chance? All the drug use and abuse seemed to be a vicious cycle. I'm not even sure where it started. But I know it can be ended, but it would only come with a great deal of help and a great deal of will power. God bless! All those people are in my prayers...

Alexandru Matei
Alexandru Matei
11 years ago

Heroine especially is a dangerous **** to play with.

PSN = dagreatdudders
PSN = dagreatdudders
11 years ago

how sad to see this is the way some people live.

PSN = dagreatdudders
PSN = dagreatdudders
11 years ago

great doc.

Winston Smith
Winston Smith
11 years ago

the guy who said he took methadone (60mg) and then 2 subtutex ! obviously had no idea what he was doing.. that is why he got so sick! he could have died. The way to get on subutex is to lower your meth to about 15-20 mgs (the lower the better) then stop everything for a couple of days... and in withdrawal you take the subs and then it will fill the receptors and remove the sickness. Taking both at the same time will make you violently sick. (read what is does.. you cannot take opiates with subutex at the same time.

Rocky Racoon
Rocky Racoon
11 years ago

We didn't have these problems when opiates were legal and in every thing from cough to headache medicine.
RR

ordinaryLEE
ordinaryLEE
11 years ago

the thing with this docusoap was not one single word to address a serious problem in society not just swansea..And while im at it the father of the main 2 characters is nothing but disgusting ..how he has the temmerity to blame his kids for their addictions after he had them running drugs all over swansea from 12yrs of age..hes not fit to keep a dog nvm a family.. i wish this docu had used its time to really delve into this scurge on society as a whole but instead we spend 104 mins watching the same few faces sayin the same thing ..i was an addicyt for 28yrs and been clean only 7 yrs but im paying for it now,...they have no idea how much of the devil is in this drug..to think you vcan stop in a cple of months rarely happens ..it takes ur body a month to betox for every year you used ..and then the health problems come to the fore..its a long long hard road but you have to start the first steps for yourself not ur wife ,family or friends etc ..its up to you to say enoughs enough..i truly hope at least some of these pooor kids make it thru,,but i fear for them too..GOOD LUCK ALL OF YOU AND I TRULY HOPE YOU ALL ACHIEVE YOUR DREAMS ..O'L

ordinaryLEE
ordinaryLEE
11 years ago

to the dicus team,why does an earlier post have to be vetted yet last post went straight up on site..can you please explain ur procedure to me ..thankyou O.L.

ordinaryLEE
ordinaryLEE
11 years ago

@ gloria ,it might come as a surprise but before you bring people down check ur facts plz..im not insulting you ok its just condoms have been free at every anti natal clinic ,drug centres ans other agencies since the eral;y 80s ....

ordinaryLEE
ordinaryLEE
11 years ago

i love the welsh people for their proudness of their country..then you see an id**t like the lads father blaming his girlfriend for his drug use..He forgets he had his son runnin drugs for him from 12yrs of age ..the man is a disgusting person who doesnt deserve the right to have a son and two daughters all on drugs because of him yet he blames his kids..ITS A FU**IN WELSH COP OUT..This doc hasnt done anything to get into the issues of the drug problems ..it should be called junkies in trouble and they think its only a few mnths treatment..it takes a month to detox for every year you used drugs ..i was an addict for 28yrs and i blame no-one but myself..been clean 7yrs now but it never leaves you...i hope those younger ones look back at this video ecery day and get off the drugs ..i wouldnt wish it on my worst enemy ..good luck for the long long road ahead ..

Gloria Wee
Gloria Wee
11 years ago

Im truly amazed at the idea of the Drug agency.. It's just like promoting safe sex. If you can't promote abstinence, why not give out condoms for free?

paul
paul
11 years ago

i live in Belfast,, i know the drug scene we do have party drugs such as, mdma pills, coke. Cannabis, acid,,, these come with there problems no doubt.. i do not like the presence of loyalist and republican paramilitary groups... but i thank them for not allowing heroin to hit the streets. its in dublin, glasgow, swansea and england. i hope my unborn children do not grow up in belfast with heroin.
also must be mentioned that the large increases in heroin use. is extremely convenient given that nato and american troops have been occupying afghanistan for over a decade. its not a war its the planned control of the middle east. and its resources including the lucrative poppy business..clear involvement.. nothing britain hasn't done before shipping opium from the far east in 1800s,,, the western governments are corrupt to the core
peace out from belfast

Christopher Snowsill
Christopher Snowsill
11 years ago

And thats the result of the fields The freedom forces guard by order supposedly so the taliban dont attack the farmers.What evil lurks behind the throne. Sorry state the advanced western countries are in. Yet its spreading like a man made virus.

Aldo Solari
Aldo Solari
12 years ago

Liberum arbitrium.

polarwhite
polarwhite
12 years ago

drugs infeset...they rot they destroy they hurt and constantly annoy forever until you start to DIE...all who grow all who produce all who pack all who distribute all who smuggile all who recieve all who break it up all who deal all who put it into their souls all seem lost all seem gone but those that sell it, remember this faith ...........revenge to you from the HUMAN RACE

polarwhite
polarwhite
12 years ago

drugs is not a swansea thing drugs is not a white or black thing drugs is not a poor or rich thing drugs is a death thing,drugs steals YOU

Irishkev
Irishkev
12 years ago

Just for the record folks, the word tigr, as used by zatarra is a racial slur on a par, and rhyming with, the word ni**er. So apologies if I sounded a little argumentative. It doesn't say much for his intelligence or insight that he would stoop to such m*ronic insults.

Palster
Palster
12 years ago

This is a human tragedy and should make us all realize just how lucky we are. What was even sadder was some of the comments written in response to the documentary. I know someone who fought and won their battle against heroin after several years of addiction. Every addict has their own story and their own journey. There but for the grace of God go all of us.

Kurt Ultor
Kurt Ultor
12 years ago

you see? thsi is what happens when society gets rid of the natural easy-prey killers. thsi kind of sub-humans flourish and propagate. Why does the state ever spends a dime on these idiotized sub-normal animals?
Killing these should not be consider crime, but a favor. for them and for the rest of society. Spend resources in small children and small students. spend a dime in a growing direction. not in these sub-humans unless they demand it. and unless they recover.

Barzee
Barzee
12 years ago

Junkies are human beings also. I dont think anyone should look at them and judge them, its no business of theirs for a start and really they will never know why they are on the stuff in the first place. If its anyway like the reasons whay some started to take it in this film then I have all the more empathy for them.

"Any fool can criticize, condemn, and complain but it takes character and self control to be understanding and forgiving"

ivorytowerone
ivorytowerone
12 years ago

I live across the Pond, in America, so we speak a standard English; meaning a form that makes what we say intelligable to other English speakers. Isn't understanding another person, people and set of values, the purpose of speech and communication? If we cannot speak in a manner that permits us to convey information in a precise and coherant fashion, how will we be able to function in a cultural or economic sense?

In American, there was, in the past, an effort by a certain minority group to legitimize its dialect, which, like that in this Welsh documentary, was difficult to decipher and it marked its as a member of the underclass. It was called 'ebonics'. Nothing could have been more detrimental to the social and financial progress of Blacks than to encourage this cultural disfunctionality, in the name of multi-culturalism.

Similarly, saying that any dialect is equal to any other is, accordingly, undiscerning and so unhelpful. Just as there are moral absolutes in the world, such as saying that being a heroin addict is bad, so too are the speech patterns of the underclass. Correction of such speech impediments is an important step in the rehabilatation and restoration process. If they are not changed, the victims of proverty will be imprisoned in a life of poverty, drug addiction and misery.

By the way, I hope everyone in Ireland had a Happy St. Patty's Day!
In America, everyone gets to be Irish on this day and we celebrate it with gusto.

noconman
noconman
12 years ago

Sad. Humans are so self destructive. Most people do not even know that more people die of suicide, than from all wars and murders combined. I couldn't even watch it all. To sad.

PavolvsBitch
PavolvsBitch
12 years ago

Marvelous system they're running, eh? 80% of the world's heroin supply is because of the illegal occupation of Afghanistan by CIA/Mossad/M16. Who are supplying this garbage, then the cops arrest the little addicts, the courts sling them in jail and everyone makes money on the deal endlessly cycling. In regions where the industry was scrapped and diverted abroad, children are brought up in ghost towns where virtually the only way of making money is to sell the stuff and there's nothing to aim for or do. The children now addicted came from addicted parents/abusive parents. Their children will naturally copy what they see in adult behaviours, they have no other option and neither do the parents.

In Wales, which was home to BP, steel, coal mining and a host of industries, when all up and left and the mines were closed down, there was nothing much left exept the pubs. But now, a new lapdancing sleaze bar has opened and some of the girls say that their parents and grandparents think it's great!

Others are like me, very depressed about all this. The young people are ill, their parents are completely off their rockers and can erupt into violence at any time. They play nice to the cameras, but the scene's a dismal one.

There's so much money to be made from crime, then they tell us that crime doesn't pay.

ivorytowerone
ivorytowerone
12 years ago

Thank goodness for subtitles or else I wouldn't have understood a bloody word. Step One for Rehab: Learn to speak proper English!

POZZIMYSTIC
POZZIMYSTIC
12 years ago

disgusting drug addicts

Glen Gibellina
Glen Gibellina
12 years ago

WLYB.......It all boils down to Family values and the core of a family, if the parents are shot out more than likely there children will as well, sad but true.
Set an example. You have to live it every day. Your children hear what you tell them, but a stronger message comes from what they see you do. To maintain your family's values, you have to be an example of those values in practice. Your children will equate your success and happiness in life with the way you live your life and they'll strive to be like you. If you can't then you don't deserve to be a parent.

thesled
thesled
12 years ago

Depressing is not the word for it, neither disturbing. Its beautiful, human senselessness in all its glory. We all are doing our silly little things, but when its junkies we notice, and judge.

dewflirt
dewflirt
12 years ago

It's not my fault but...
I want to stop but....
I love my kids but....
And you know what, The poor sods believe every word they say because it's true for them. Tragic.
On a lighter note, did you lot really need subtitles for that?

ProudinUS
ProudinUS
12 years ago

Disturbing wouldn't even be the word for this. Kids watching their parents go through addiction isn't exactly the formula for a healthy up bringing. Alot of people will be able to relate to what these kids are going through in their drug use....and it's sad and f--ked up.

hypnoshado
hypnoshado
12 years ago

Depressing isn't the word for this