Sylvia: The Movie

Michelle McGrane

Cast: Gwyneth Paltrow, Daniel Craig, Blythe Danner
Directed by: Christine Jeffs
Genre: Drama
Length: 113 minutes
Showing: From 13 August 2004 - on the Art Circuit

The New Focus motion picture Sylvia is based on the later years of Sylvia Plath's life. John Brownlow wrote the script. The film is directed by Christine Jeff. Costume designer Sandy Powell (Shakespeare in Love) is responsible for the 1950s fashion, while Gabriel Yared (The English Patient) is in charge of the musical score.

Actress Gwenyth Paltrow stars in the lead role together with a relatively unknown Craig Daniels playing the part of Ted Hughes, and Blythe Danner is cast as Aurelia Plath.

Many of Plath's admirers have viewed the production of such a film with grave misgivings, anticipating the focus to be on her tumultuous relationship with Hughes at the expense of her poetry. Unfortunately, Plath's daughter Frieda did not grant permission to quote her poetry extensively in the film.

It is perhaps inevitable that any film attempting to depict the lives of two characters as brilliant and controversial as Plath and Hughes will come under criticism.

The question one might ask is, "Will Sylvia send viewers back to the verse?" If anything, my hope is that it will open up both Plath's and Hughes's writing to new audiences and prompt people to explore their work.

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