The Edge of Love | |
---|---|
Directed by | John Maybury |
Written by | Sharman Macdonald |
Produced by |
|
Starring | |
Cinematography | Jonathan Freeman |
Edited by | Emma E. Hickox |
Music by | Angelo Badalamenti |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Lionsgate [1] Capitol Films |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 110 minutes |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
The Edge of Love is a 2008 British biographical romantic drama film directed by John Maybury and starring Keira Knightley, Sienna Miller, Cillian Murphy, and Matthew Rhys. The script was written by Knightley's mother, Sharman Macdonald. [2] Originally titled The Best Time of Our Lives, the fictional story concerns Welsh poet Dylan Thomas (played by Rhys), his wife Caitlin Macnamara (played by Miller) and their married friends, the Killicks (played by Knightley and Murphy). The film premiered at the Edinburgh International Film Festival.
The story is loosely based on real events and people, drawing on Rebekah Gilbertson's idea and David N. Thomas' 2000 book Dylan Thomas: A Farm, Two Mansions and a Bungalow. [3] He has since written further about Dylan and Vera, highlighting the several deceits in the film that trivialised their friendship. He has described how Dylan and Vera were related as cousins, and the extent to which their families inter-married, farming together as neighbours on the Llansteffan peninsula in Carmarthenshire. [4]
During the London Blitz, nightclub singer Vera Phillips runs into her first love, charismatic Welsh poet Dylan Thomas. Although Dylan is now married to Caitlin Macnamara, with whom he has a son, he and Vera rekindle feelings for one another. The two women, initially rivals, become best friends. Drinking heavily in wartime London, the three come to get along.
William Killick, a British Army officer, begins to pursue Vera. Both Vera and Caitlin are intrigued by his steadfast, gallant personality despite its contrasts with Vera's rebelliousness. William notices Vera's closeness to Dylan, but doesn't appear concerned; he and Vera even lend the struggling poet some of their savings. William and Vera fall in love and marry. Soon afterward, William is called up to fight against the German invasion of Greece after the Italians failed.
Shortly after William's departure, Vera discovers she is pregnant. Upset that motherhood will take away her independence, she contemplates aborting the child but cannot bring herself to do so. She gives birth to a son and moves to the Welsh seashore with Dylan and Caitlin to raise their children in two small neighbouring cottages. Vera and Caitlin's friendship grows stronger while Dylan and Caitlin's marriage becomes distorted by multiple infidelities. Dylan draws Vera into an affair with him.
William returns a captain, scarred by the horrors of the war. Vera notices his emotional distance and instability. William suspects his wife of infidelity and confronts her. Vera confesses to both William and Caitlin, who are furious with her. One evening, while severely inebriated and angry with Dylan's friends for their ignorant remarks on the war, William wanders outside and fires multiple shots into Dylan and Caitlin's home. He does not hit anyone, and Vera calms him down. The next morning, William seems to have returned to his former self. However, he is arrested and taken to trial.
During the trial, Dylan testifies against William and distorts the facts, claiming that William was sober and intended to kill Dylan, Caitlin, and their child. The jury finds William innocent of intent to murder. After returning home, William accepts his new role as a father, and he and Vera forgive each other. Their relationship improves. Dylan and Caitlin move out of their cottage. During the farewell, Vera restores her friendship with Caitlin, but she never speaks to Dylan again, unable to forgive him for testifying against her husband.
The cast included: [5]
The film made its world premiere opening at the Edinburgh Film Festival on 18 June 2008. It was released in London and Dublin two days later, with a Welsh premiere taking place in Swansea (the birthplace of Dylan Thomas) on the same night, attended by Matthew Rhys. A national release followed in the UK and Ireland on 27 June 2008. [6] An exhibition of costumes, scripts and props from the film was on display at the Dylan Thomas Centre in Swansea until September 2008. The Edge of Love has earned US$3,238,922 in gross revenue since its June 2008 release. [7]
On Rotten Tomatoes the film received a 37% rating based on 59 reviews, with an average rating of 5.10/10. The site's consensus reads: "Despite effective performances from Knightley and Miller, The Edge of Love lacks a coherent narrative". [8] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average score, gave the film 39 out of 100 based on reviews from 13 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". [9]
In Variety , Leslie Felperin commented: "While the period drama has several redeeming features, tonally it's all over the map, veering between artsy stylization and hum-drum, sometimes almost twee melodrama." [10] Mark Kermode described the film as "inert" and said that the script was "flawed but not without some form of admirable merit". [11]
The Independent felt that "Maybury's stylisation makes the film more interesting than it would have been if directed by your average British journeyman, but it finally adds up to earnest heritage romance." [12] In The Guardian , reviewer Philip French said, "This is a fascinating story, its chronology somewhat muddled and its dramatic thrust rather obscure." [6]
The Hollywood Reporter critic Ray Bennett commented that The Edge of Love is a "wonderfully atmospheric tale of love and war" and stated about Knightley and Miller; "the film belongs to the women, with Knightley going from strength to strength (and showing she can sing!) and Miller again proving that she has everything it takes to be a major movie star." [13]
Sienna Miller received a nomination as Best Supporting Actress at the 2008 British Independent Film Awards. [14]
The Edge of Love (Music from the Motion Picture) | |
---|---|
Soundtrack album by | |
Released | 24 June 2008 |
Genre | Soundtrack |
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [15] |
Discogs | 5 / 5 |
The Edge of Love soundtrack by Angelo Badalamenti includes songs by Keira Knightley, Siouxsie Sioux, Suggs, Patrick Wolf, and Beth Rowley. Siouxsie performs the second version of "Careless Love", while Wolf performs "Careless Talk".
The composer performed the soundtrack live with Siouxsie and Beth Rowley at the World Soundtrack Awards in Ghent in October 2008. [16]
Dylan Marlais Thomas was a Welsh poet and writer whose works include the poems "Do not go gentle into that good night" and "And death shall have no dominion", as well as the "play for voices" Under Milk Wood. He also wrote stories and radio broadcasts such as A Child's Christmas in Wales and Portrait of the Artist as a Young Dog. He became widely popular in his lifetime; and remained so after his death at the age of 39 in New York City. By then, he had acquired a reputation, which he had encouraged, as a "roistering, drunken and doomed poet". Dylan Marlais Thomas was the son of David John Thomas, a school master, and Florence Hannah Williams who married in 1903 and were living in Sketty Avenue, Sketty, Swansea when the 1911 Census was taken. Their daughter Nancy, born 1906, was not at home with them on Census Day.
Keira Christina Knightley is an English actress. Known for her work in independent films and blockbusters, particularly period dramas, she has received numerous accolades, including nominations for two Academy Awards, two BAFTAs, three Golden Globes, and a Laurence Olivier Award. In 2018, she was appointed an OBE at Buckingham Palace for services to drama and charity.
New Quay is a seaside town and electoral ward in Ceredigion, Wales; it had a resident population of 1,045 at the 2021 census. Located 19 miles (31 km) south-west of Aberystwyth, on Cardigan Bay with a harbour and large sandy beaches, the town lies on the Ceredigion Coast Path and the Wales Coast Path. It remains a popular seaside resort and traditional fishing town, with strong family and literary associations with the poet Dylan Thomas and his play, Under Milk Wood.
Rhys Owain Evans, known as Rhys Ifans, is a Welsh actor. His portrayed roles in Notting Hill (1999), Kevin & Perry Go Large (2000), and Enduring Love (2004), in addition to Xenophilius Lovegood in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 (2010), Dr. Curt Connors / Lizard in The Amazing Spider-Man (2012) and Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), and Grigori Rasputin in The King's Man (2021). His television roles include Hector DeJean in the Epix thriller series Berlin Station, Mycroft Holmes in the CBS series Elementary, and Otto Hightower in the HBO fantasy series House of the Dragon.
Sienna Rose Diana Miller is an American-born British actress. Born in New York City and raised in London, she began her career as a photography model, appearing in the pages of Italian Vogue and for the 2003 Pirelli Calendar. Her acting breakthrough came in the 2004 films Layer Cake and Alfie. She subsequently portrayed socialite Edie Sedgwick in Factory Girl (2006) and author Caitlin Macnamara in The Edge of Love (2008), and was nominated for the BAFTA Rising Star Award in 2008. Her role as The Baroness in G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009) was followed by a brief sabbatical from the screen amid increased tabloid scrutiny.
Joseph Wright is an English film director. His motion pictures include adaptations of Pride & Prejudice (2005), Atonement (2007), Anna Karenina (2012), and Cyrano (2021), the action thriller Hanna (2011), the Peter Pan origin story Pan (2015) and Darkest Hour (2017).
Beth Ann Rowley is an English singer-songwriter.
Caitlin Thomas was an author and the wife of the poet and writer Dylan Thomas. Their marriage was a stormy affair, fueled by alcohol and infidelity, though the couple remained together until Dylan's death in 1953. After his death, she wrote the book Leftover Life to Kill, an account of her self-exile to Italy. She paints a portrait of a grieving widow seeking solace in distance, a younger lover, and alcohol.
Atonement is a 2007 romantic war drama film directed by Joe Wright and starring James McAvoy, Keira Knightley, Saoirse Ronan, Romola Garai, and Vanessa Redgrave. It is based on the 2001 novel by Ian McEwan. The film chronicles a crime and its consequences over six decades, beginning in the 1930s. It was produced for StudioCanal and filmed in England. Distributed in most of the world by Universal Studios, it was released theatrically in the United Kingdom on 7 September 2007 and in North America exactly three months later on 7 December 2007.
Myfanwy, is a popular Welsh song composed by Joseph Parry in four parts for male voices, and first published in 1875.
John Maybury is an English filmmaker and artist. He first came to prominence as the director of the music video for the Pet Shop Boys 1984 single "West End Girls". In 2005 he was named as one of the 100 most influential gay and lesbian people in Britain.
The Duchess is a 2008 historical drama film directed by Saul Dibb, who co-wrote the screenplay with Jeffrey Hatcher and Anders Thomas Jensen, based on the 1998 book Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire by Amanda Foreman, about the late 18th-century English aristocrat Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire. She was a distant relation of Diana, Princess of Wales, where the quote "There were three people in her marriage" in the promotional poster comes from. The Duchess was the older sister of Lady Diana's great-great-great-grandfather, George Spencer, 2nd Earl Spencer.
The 11th British Independent Film Awards, held on 30 November 2008 at the Old Billingsgate Market in London, honoured the best British independent films of 2008.
Last Night is a 2010 romantic drama film that was written and directed by Massy Tadjedin, her directorial debut. The film follows married couple Joanna and Michael Reed, who are tempted by different forms of infidelity when they spend a night apart following a fight. Joanna is emotionally drawn to her ex-boyfriend Alex Mann while Michael is physically attracted to his co-worker Laura Nunez. The cast includes Griffin Dunne, Daniel Eric Gold, Anson Mount, Stephanie Romanov, Scott Adsit, Justine Cotsonas, and Chriselle Almeida. Last Night was produced by Entertainment One in association with the Gaumont Film Company, and deals with questions about emotional and physical infidelity.
Begin Again is a 2013 American musical comedy-drama film written and directed by John Carney and starring Keira Knightley and Mark Ruffalo. Knightley plays a singer-songwriter who is discovered by a struggling record label executive (Ruffalo) and collaborates with him to produce an album recorded in public locations all over New York City.
Last Call is a 2017 American drama film written and directed by Steven Bernstein. It is a surrealistic biopic, which recreates the life of Welsh poet Dylan Thomas through flashbacks during the famous drinking binge at the White Horse Tavern in New York City which ended fatally during the fall of 1953.
Official Secrets is a 2019 British drama film directed by Gavin Hood, based on the case of whistleblower Katharine Gun who exposed an illegal spying operation by American and British intelligence services to gauge sentiment of and potentially blackmail United Nations diplomats tasked to vote on a resolution regarding the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Keira Knightley stars as Gun, alongside Matt Smith, Matthew Goode, Adam Bakri, Indira Varma and Ralph Fiennes.
Jonathan Freeman, ASC is a Canadian cinematographer. A multi-award-winning director of photography for motion pictures, television and commercials, he is known for his work on Game of Thrones and Boardwalk Empire. Freeman's motion picture credits include Remember Me, Fifty Dead Men Walking, The Edge of Love, Hollywoodland and The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio. He frequently collaborates with directors Allen Coulter, Ernest Dickerson, David Nutter, and Russell Mulcahy.
Misbehaviour is a 2020 British comedy-drama film directed by Philippa Lowthorpe, from a screenplay by Gaby Chiappe and Rebecca Frayn, from a story by Frayn. The film stars Keira Knightley, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Jessie Buckley, Keeley Hawes, Phyllis Logan, Lesley Manville, Rhys Ifans and Greg Kinnear.