Sylvia (2003 film)

Sylvia
Directed by	Christine Jeffs
Produced by	Alison Owen Mary Richards
Written by	John Brownlow
Starring	Gwyneth Paltrow Daniel Craig Jared Harris Michael Gambon Blythe Danner
Music by	Gabriel Yared
Edited by	Tariq Anwar
Production company	BBC Films Capitol Films
Distributed by	Focus Features (United States)
Release dates	17 October 2003 (2003-10-17) (United States) 30 January 2004 (2004-01-30) (United Kingdom)
Running time	110 minutes
Country	United Kingdom United States
Language	English

Sylvia is a 2003 British biographical drama film directed by Christine Jeffs and starring Gwyneth Paltrow, Daniel Craig, Jared Harris, and Michael Gambon. It tells the true story of the romance between prominent poets Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes. The film begins with their meeting at Cambridge in 1956 and ends with Sylvia Plath's suicide in 1963.

Frieda Hughes, Sylvia and Ted's daughter, accused the filmmakers of profiting from her mother's death.^[1]

Plot

Born in Boston, Massachusetts in 1932, Plath developed a precocious talent as a writer, publishing her first poem when she was only eight years old. That same year, tragedy introduced itself into her life as Plath was forced to confront the unexpected death of her father. In 1950, she began studying at Smith College on a literary scholarship, and while she was an outstanding student, she also began suffering from bouts of extreme depression. Following her junior year, she attempted suicide for the first time. Plath survived, and, in 1955, she was granted a Fulbright Scholarship to study in England at the University of Cambridge. While in Great Britain, Plath met Ted Hughes, a respected author, who would later become the British Poet Laureate. The two fell in love and married in 1956. Sylvia quickly learns that others are also enthralled with her husband, for a combination of his good looks, charisma, fame and success. Sylvia lives in her husband's professional shadow as she tries to eke out her own writing career, which doesn't come as naturally to her as it does to Ted. She also suspects him of chronic infidelity.

Marriage, family, and a growing reputation as an important poet nonetheless failed to bring Plath happiness. Hughes eventually leaves her for another woman, by which Sylvia is devastated. After Hughes left, Plath's depression went into a tailspin from which she never recovered. She killed herself at age 30. Plath became increasingly fascinated with death, a highly visible theme in her later poetry and her sole novel, The Bell Jar (1963).

Cast

• Gwyneth Paltrow as Sylvia Plath
• Daniel Craig as Ted Hughes
• David Birkin as Morecambe
• Alison Bruce as Elizabeth
• Amira Casar as Assia Wevill
• Blythe Danner as Aurelia Plath
• Lucy Davenport as Doreen
• Julian Firth as James Michie
• Jeremy Fowlds as Mr. Robinson
• Michael Gambon as Teacher Thomas
• Sarah Guyler as Ted's Cambridge Girlfriend
• Jared Harris as Al Alvarez
• Andrew Havill as David Wevill
• Liddy Holloway as Martha Bergstrom

Production

Filming took place between October 2002 and February 2003. Much of the film was shot in and around the New Zealand city of Dunedin, with the University of Otago serving to represent Cambridge.

Reception

Sylvia received mixed reviews from critics. Rotten Tomatoes gives it a 37% "rotten" approval rating from mainstream critics, giving the consensus, "This biopic about Sylvia Plath doesn't rise above the level of highbrow melodrama."^[2] Roger Ebert gave the film 3 out of a possible 4 stars, praising Paltrow and Craig's performances.^[3] A.O. Scott, writing for The New York Times, also praised Paltrow's portrayal of Plath but wrote that, "The psychological dynamics of the marriage, unsettled by professional envy and sexual jealousy, are duly noted, but the film's emotions are too big, too untidy and too strange to be contained by its story."^[4]

References

External links

• Sylvia at the Internet Movie Database
• Sylvia at Rotten Tomatoes