theedgeoflove2009I don’t know a whole lot about poetry, aside from the fact that some of it rhymes. But I do know that The Edge of Love, essentially a small slice of the life of Welsh poet Dylan Thomas molded into a cigarette smoke-choked wartime soap opera starring Keira Knightley and Sienna Miller, is one gorgeous-looking movie.

It’s not so much about Thomas (Matthew Rhys) as is it is about the various complications that arise from his relationship during WWII with his wife Caitlin (Miller) and childhood pal Vera Phillips (Knightley), for whom he still longs, as well as Knightley’s soldier husband (Cillian Murphy).

I preferred the film’s happier first half, in which Knightley and Miller form an unlikely bond despite their rivalry for Rhys’ affections and Murphy woos and eventually marries Knightley, over the somber second, filled as it is with adultery, abortions, betrayal, screaming kids and the psychological toll of war on Murphy, who snaps when he learns that Rhys may have screwed Knightley while he was away.

But as a whole it’s one classy production, from the cinematography to the period costumes to the involvement of a famed poet who drank a lot and died too young. Not to mention the delivery of such refined dialogue as “What does it mean when she smiles?” and “Heartache. That’s what I see in a uniform” in tasteful British accents.

The script by Sharman MacDonald (Knightley’s real-life mum) also sprinkles bits of Thomas’ work throughout, including lines like “suffer the first vision that set fire to the stars,” and the film itself ends with Rhys reciting a passage from “In My Craft or Sullen Art.” So it all certainly sounds elegant, even if I don’t quite get the meaning behind such carefully ordered words.

And thanks to director John Maybury (Love is the Devil), it looks even better, especially the ravishing close-ups of Knightley singing in the bomb-shelter nightclub where she sports blood-red lipstick and is soft-lit to within an inch of her life. She looks breathtaking, as does a scene after said club is bombed where she and Murphy are shot in silhouette against the blazing orange light of raging fires.

Welsh actor Rhys (TV’s Brothers & Sisters) makes Thomas interesting enough, though I really don’t know how accurate his portrayal is, and I thought costume-drama vet Knightley was better overall in last year’s The Duchess, but she’s still solid playing yet another feisty female. Of all the scenes she shares with Rhys, the best one has them walking on the beach in Swansea pondering their past.

But Miller (Factory Girl), despite looking just a tad more glamorous than the real Caitlin MacNamara, outshines everyone. She flirts with other men in front of Rhys, hops in a bathtub with Knightley and pleads to tend to her crying child and in doing so makes the woman lively and vulnerable and angry. You know, human. I can’t imagine that Lindsay Lohan, who was originally cast in the role, could have done any better.

So if you want a film about the man who wrote the villanelle “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night” for his dying dad and whose work inspired Robert Zimmerman to change his name to Bob Dylan, this ain’t it. But if you want to gaze upon some beautiful visuals, hear some pleasing poetry and become nostalgic for the days when one could smoke anywhere he or she wanted, then check it out. – [DVD]

Biography/Drama/Romance/War

Rated R

DVD Release Date: 7/14/09

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