Monday, August 15, 2022
flickfeast
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Festivals
  • FrightFeast
  • Spotlight
  • Contribute
  • Submissions
    • Advertise on Flickfeast
    • Submit a Film
No Result
View All Result
flickfeast
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Festivals
  • FrightFeast
  • Spotlight
  • Contribute
  • Submissions
    • Advertise on Flickfeast
    • Submit a Film
No Result
View All Result
FLICKFEAST
No Result
View All Result
Home Feature

Set Fire To The Stars (2014)

Chris Binding by Chris Binding
June 25, 2014
in Feature, Film Review
14
SHARES
1.4k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Celebrating poet Dylan Thomas’s centenary year, Set Fire to The Stars was one of the highest profile films of Edinburgh International 2014 due to the attendance and involvement of Ellijah Wood. Yet to define Andy Goddard’s stylish, complex character study by the pull of one actor is a fallacy, as Set Fire To The Stars was a meditative, emotionally rich piece of cinema, which offered alternative perspectives on fame, tortured creativity and truth.

The film tells the story of literary scholar John M. Brinnin (Wood) and his debilitating relationship with poet Dylan Thomas (Celyn Jones), as Brinnin brings the literary hero to America for the first time in the 1950s. As the tagline for the film reads ‘never meet your heros’, the relationship between the characters is fittingly self – destructive, with Thomas being the un-tameable catalyst that will tear away Brinnin’s life and reputation with incomprehensible effect. The relationship between Brinnin’s growing descent from literary contemporary to an estranged baby – sitter is matched by Thomas’s aggression, fierce intelligence and personal demons. After the travesty of his first New York gig, where alcoholism threatens to both kill Thomas and ruin Brinnin’s reputation, the two shelter in Connecticut in an isolated cabin, where the two forces (if only temporally) gain an understanding of one another through confession, dialogue and poetry.

You might also like

EIFF 2022: Resurrection (2022) – Film Review

EIFF 2022: Aftersun (2022) – Film Review

Nope (2022) – Film Review

Set-Fire-To-The-Stars-still-3

While a star supporting cast bring in memorable turns, from Steven Mckintosh’s academic pariah, to an eccentric couple played by Shirley Henderson and Kevin Eldon, the film is essentially about Wood and Jones’s understanding of one another through dialogue and powerful monologue – with Wood’s standout story of childhood cruelty as a poetic performance piece in itself. While Set Fire to the Stars is not a film that delves deep in Thomas poetry, apart from a haunting cast performance of ‘Love in the Asylum’, the film explores Wood’s characters infatuation with the idea of the poet rather than the poetry itself, touching on elements of ‘cult of personality’ and biographical voyeurism. From encounters with academic politics, the nature of creativity and a noir style underpinned by the jazz and melancholic ballads of Gruff Rhys, Set Fire To The Stars has a lot of sub textual meat, which allows the viewer to become immersed in the life of Dylan Thomas without needing too much prior knowledge of his life of poetry.

With images as stylish and tortured as the subjects themselves, Andy Goddard’s complex take on Thomas, fame and idolisation was a pleasure to behold, both introspective and intelligent and in many ways utterly devastating. While many films about ‘tortured artists’ tend to romanticise the stereotype as an appealing subcultural lifestyle, Set Fire To The Stars presents it in its most ugly form , encapsulated by Thomas and Brinnin’s dichotomous relationship of lyricism and anarchy. An incredibly surprising film, a transformative experience and an absolute triumph for everyone involved.

Director: Andy Goddard
Writers: Andy Goddard, Andy Goddard, 2 more credits »
Stars: Kelly Reilly, Elijah Wood, Shirley Henderson
Runtime: 90 mins
Country: UK

Film Rating: ★★★★½

Tags: Celyn JonesChris BindingdramaDylan ThomasEdinburgh Film festivalEIFFEllijah Woodfilm reviewflickfeastSet Fire To The Stars
Chris Binding

Chris Binding

Film Maker, Film Writer (MA), and Musician. A huge fan of going to film festivals, independent cinemas and films that flirt with the macabre. Just don't ask me what my favorite film is....

Related Posts

EIFF 2022: Resurrection (2022) – Film Review
Festivals

EIFF 2022: Resurrection (2022) – Film Review

by Dallas King
August 14, 2022
EIFF 2022: Aftersun (2022) – Film Review
Festivals

EIFF 2022: Aftersun (2022) – Film Review

by Dallas King
August 13, 2022
Nope (2022) – Film Review
Film Review

Nope (2022) – Film Review

by Katie Smith-Wong
August 9, 2022
Bullet Train (2022) – Film Review
Film Review

Bullet Train (2022) – Film Review

by Katie Smith-Wong
August 3, 2022
Where The Crawdads Sing – Film Review
Film Review

Where The Crawdads Sing – Film Review

by Dallas King
July 22, 2022

Recommended

FrightFest and Arrow Video make a deal…

FrightFest and Arrow Video make a deal…

April 24, 2018

Angels of Evil (2010)

October 25, 2011

Don't miss it

EIFF 2022: Resurrection (2022) – Film Review
Festivals

EIFF 2022: Resurrection (2022) – Film Review

August 14, 2022
EIFF 2022: Aftersun (2022) – Film Review
Festivals

EIFF 2022: Aftersun (2022) – Film Review

August 13, 2022
Nope (2022) – Film Review
Film Review

Nope (2022) – Film Review

August 9, 2022
Alone Together (2022) – Film Review
Reviews

Alone Together (2022) – Film Review

August 4, 2022
Bullet Train (2022) – Film Review
Film Review

Bullet Train (2022) – Film Review

August 3, 2022
Anything’s Possible (2022) – Film Review
Reviews

Anything’s Possible (2022) – Film Review

July 31, 2022
flickfeast

Whetting your appetite for cinema with the best film reviews and features since 2009

© Copyright - flickfeast. All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Festivals
  • FrightFeast
  • Spotlight
  • Contribute

© Copyright - flickfeast. All Rights Reserved.

Posting....