| Edinburgh Int'l Film Festival 2008 : opening film : THE EDGE OF LOVE : [5/10] |
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| Wednesday, 18 June 2008 | |
 At first glance, EIFF opener The Edge of Love has many of the hallmarks of a successful, prestigious British movie. It has a period setting - in the 1940s, mainly in a London racked by the Blitz; it focusses on the life of a respected, renowed creative figure - poet, scriptwriter and legendary drinker Dylan Thomas (Matthew Rhys); and it stars Keira Knightley - as Thomas's childhood friend and lifelong soul-mate Vera, plus Sienna Miller as his independent-minded wife Caitlin. It's handsomely-appointed in its attention to decor, sets, costumes and production-design, and has no shortage of solid names working behind the camera, including composer Angelo Badalamenti (a frequent collaborator with David Lynch). In addition, the story it tells is full of potential, concentrating on the Thomas's torrid love-life, especially their friendship with Vera and her soldier husband William (Cillian Murphy) - while director John Maybury has an intriguing track-record, including Francis Bacon biopic Love is the Devil and underrated time-travel drama The Jacket. There's many a slip between cup and lip, however, and for some reason The Edge of Love - for all its promising elements - somehow fails to come together and make a satisfying, coherent whole. As scripted by Sharman McDonald (who happens to be Knightley's mother), the film never really manages to overcome the feeling that we're peeking, rather pruriently, into the not-so-fascinating sexual lives of the famous and their circle. There are effectively only four characters on view, and the film is much more interested in Caitlin and Vera than it is in either of their husbands - more a result, one suspects, of Knightley and Miller's current prominence than for any sound dramaturgical factors. Kicking proceedings off with a glamorous Knightley singing in an London-Underground blitz shelter, meanwhile, is doubly unfortunate - raising memories of both Dennis Potter and last year's big WW2 romance Atonement, comparisons which emphatically aren't to The Edge of Love's advantage. It's disappointing to see a director like Maybury, who's capable of wild invention and originality when given his head, on "best behaviour" here - in contrast to the uninhibited passions of his characters, he seems keen to avoid anything that might shock or disturb audiences (or, indeed, BAFTA voters.) Thomas himself famously raged "against the dying of the light" - this slightly drab enterprise sees Maybury and MacDonald going (relatively) gentle. Neil Young 10th/18th June, 2008 written for the next edition of Tribune magazine  THE EDGE OF LOVE : [5/10] : UK 2008 : John Maybury : 111m (BBFC timing) seen at CineWorld cinema, Rubery Great Park, Birmingham : 7th June, 2008 : press show (Cinemadays event) more EIFF 2008 coverage HERE   |
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