Μύ Gwyneth Paltrow stars as the ill-fated American poetess Sylvia Plath in Christine Jeff's cannily titled biopic Sylvia. It might have been "atmospheric, elegant and thoughtful", but the fact is, it was also really depressing and nobody went to see it.
There aren't too many reasons to invest in this DVD either, which is almost as deep a void as the "dawn of doomstruck day" where "shocked angels cry them up from their fond, final, infamous decay" (to borrow a few lines from Plath's The Dead). But we digress...
It's A Gas (Not)
Gwyneth Paltrow tries her best to cheer things up a bit in a six-minute behind-the-scenes featurette, which is such a non-entity they didn't even bother giving it a title. Cast and crew ponder the thorny romance between Sylvia and fellow wordsmith Ted Hughes (played by Daniel Craig), offering such probing insights as "Can't live with them, can't live without them" - thank you, producer Alison Owen. Director Christine Jeffs adds, "It's tumultuous, and very emotional." Hmm...
On playing opposite real-life mom Blythe Danner, Gwynnie shamelessly gushes, "My mother is incredible!" But the biggest clanger drops when she says of Sylvia: "People describe her as very alive and vivacious." Um, we can only assume Gwynnie did this interview prior to reading the last page of the script.
Daniel Craig offers more spirited observations about the relationship between Ted and Sylvia, remarking, "You couldn't get a cigarette paper between them, which is such a fantastic image." No doubt, but considering the manner of Sylvia's eventual suicide, perhaps it's not the most tasteful choice of imagery.
In case you haven't succumbed to what Sylvia termed the loll of "colossal sleep" by this time, there's also a trailer.
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