Jagger Jinxes Our Complete Satisfaction of the Poetry in the New Dylan Thomas Film
By carolyn hitt
ONE of the many treats of the Hay Festival this year was an event discussing the forthcoming Dylan Thomas biopic The Edge Of Love.
Clips from the film, which stars Matthew Rhys, Sienna Miller and Kiera Knightley, were introduced by its director John Maybury.
Sonorous-voiced and sexy, Matthew Rhys is perfectly cast as the young Dylan.
May bury explained the pressure he was under to place a star with bigger “box office” credentials in the lead but once Rhys had auditioned there was no question of the role going elsewhere.
“He’d even got his friend Ioan Gruffudd to do a ‘bad’ audition, to make sure he got the part,” grinned May bury.
From the evocative scenes we saw, The Edge Of Love looks beautifully shot and has a compelling narrative.
Set against war-torn London and the more peaceful realms of coastal Cardiganshire, it explores the tangled relationships between Dylan, his free-spirited wife Caitlin (Miller) and his childhood love and cabaret singer Vera (Knightley, with a surprisingly good Welsh accent).
It also treats the poetryof Wales’ literary icon with sensitivity and passion, bringing it to life on the big screen. But there could have been even more of Dylan’s words resonating through the story if it weren’t for Mick Jagger. He now owns them and isn’t prepared to share them.
Maybury has been forced to edit out scenes featuring material from the 1939 collection Map Of Love, after threat of legal action from the Rolling Stone, whose hard-nosed approach to business would apparently make even Sir Alan sweat in the boardroom.
“We had access to a few of Thomas’ poems. Unfortunately Mick Jagger owns quite a lot and he has his own Dylan Thomas film project,” Maybury explained.
With its fashionable cast and powerful plot, The Edge Of Love could bring a whole new audience to the life story of Dylan Thomas.
It’s just a shame that a younger generation couldn’t be exposed to even more of the work of Wales’ best-loved poet were it not for an ageing English rocker.
He’s our poet Mick, and we can’t get no satisfaction if he’s not accessible to all.
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