Last night I watched Sylvia, a film about Sylvia Plath. I’ve loved her poetry for some time and thought that the Bell Jar was a stunning and devastating novel. I’ve never been much of a fan of Gwyneth Paltrow but she was brilliant and beautifully complex and sexy as Sylvia. It was funny to see Daniel Craig as Ted Hughes. I kept thinking of him as James Bond throughout which was a bit amusing.
There’s a scene where they are at sea in a rowing boat. Ted is encouraging her to simply write and get it done. Sylvia is blocked, brooding and unresponsive. Then they are caught up in the current of the outgoing tide and the situation becomes a bit dangerous. Sparked by this Sylvia becomes animated and inspired by thoughts of death and memories of attempted suicide. Ted is clearly disturbed.
As inspired by life and death, her brilliance walked a fine line and ended tragically.
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