The Edge of Love

I watched a film called 'The Edge of Love' with my dad last night. It was released in 2008 and i never managed to catch in in the cinema, despite wanting to (always the way...), so when i realised it was going to be shown on BBC (no adverts - score!) a few weeks ago i set it to record and have been looking forward to watching it ever since. I'm glad i did. It was reeally good. It depicts the relationship between the famous poet Dylan Thomas (Matther Rhys), although i'm ashamed to say i didn't anything about him or his work prior to watching the film, Caitlin Macnamara (Sienna Miller) and Vera Killick (Keira Knightley). I found it to be a very honest, unpretentious depiction of the characters and the emotions that they felt as a result of their situation. Alot of the film was set in rural Wales by the seaside, and it reminded me of a programme i watched a few years ago on tv which showed the unhappy life of Sylvia Plath, when she moved with her husband to the seaside (i'm not sure where exactly) and lived in a similar-looking building to the ones seen in the Edge of Love. That production however, lacked much of the life and fun that is seen in the Edge of Love (though this is seen alongside a great amount of suffering). This destructive nature of poets such as Ted Hughes and Dylan Thomas seems to be a recurring theme with many poets. I can't help but feel that yeah, it's great that they wrote some amazing poetry and all that, but i wouldn't wish to be any of them - their lives and the lives of their 'loved' ones seem to have been so god awful. Anyway. I would really recommend watching the Edge of Love if you haven't already. Not only is it great at portraying the characters' stories, but visually, it's goreous to look at.

But now to the point of this post. In watching this film, i found myself really absorbed in and inspired by the 40s fashions that could be seen on Keira Knightley and Sienna Miller. I just wanted to post some stills showing you how Gorgeous their outfits were. I especially loved their clothes when they'd moved to Wales. Their outfits became more practical, casual, their hair more dishevelled and makeup practically non-existent. Plus, the bright, war-time florals really stood out against the bleak backdrop of the cold, Welsh seaside, showing (i thought) perhaps how the friendship between these two women remained the one bright and colourful thing in their lives, and the thing that kept them going whilst living in such as isolated location with the miserable, promiscuous Dylan Thomas who played with the minds of both these characters.

Glam Vera at the beginning of the film.

Glamourous Caitlin at the beggining.

Dylan and Caitlin, his wife.

Dylan and Vera, his childhood sweetheart. They both come from Wales, though her accent is stronger (or atleast it was to my ears). Thinking about it, Knightley did a really good Welsh accent.

Keira with her baby (well ok Vera with her baby) was one of the cutest things to watch. Such a sweet baby!

A really heartwarming scene in the movie. I won't give anything away though...

When searching for stills of the film for this post i came across a flickr account with a nice Edge of Love-esque photoshoot. I can't copy the photos for copyright reasons apparently but if you're interesting click here and then explore the rest of the photos.

Lots of love

Lucy

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