Sylvia Review
by Shannon Patrick Sullivan (shannon AT morgan DOT ucs DOT mun DOT ca)February 9th, 2004
SYLVIA (2003) / ***
Directed by Christine Jeffs. Screenplay by John Brownlow. Starring Gwyneth Paltrow, Daniel Craig, Blythe Danner. Running time: 110 minutes. Rated AA for offensive language by the MFCB. Reviewed on February 8th, 2004.
By SHANNON PATRICK SULLIVAN
Synopsis: "Sylvia" tells the story of the life of mid-twentieth-century poet Sylvia Plath (Paltrow), beginning with her first meeting with Ted Hughes (Craig). Hughes is already an accomplished poet, and even as their rapport deepens, Plath finds herself struggling to escape his shadow. Soon, their relationship is marred by infidelity and depression, during which time Plath ironically produces some of her most powerful writings.
Review: Many who watch "Sylvia" will come to the film as a fan of Plath's work. I am not one of these, however, having never really crossed paths with either her poetry or her novel, "The Bell Jar". So I approached "Sylvia" as much as an introduction to Plath's writing as a depiction of her life, and was therefore sorely disappointed to find Plath's own words all but absent from the movie. This is not the fault of the filmmakers, who were denied permission to use Plath's work by her daughter, but it is nonetheless an unmistakable absence at the heart of "Sylvia". We end up being told how good her writing was without ever being shown it, and the former can never be as satisfying as the latter. Nonetheless, "Sylvia" still stands as a well-made account of a singularly interesting and tragic life. Both Paltrow and Craig really give themselves over to their characters, capturing both the graces and the flaws of Plath and Hughes, and of their relationship as a whole. It neither indicts nor vindicates either partner, instead demonstrating how both played a role in the degeneration of their marriage -- and yet, in so doing, helped fuel Plath's dark talent. While not a perfect account of Plath's life, then, "Sylvia" is still a persuasive work, and certainly offers some incentive to Plath novices such as myself to find out what we've been missing.
Copyright © 2004 Shannon Patrick Sullivan.
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