FilmLit: Sylvia (2003)

A film covering the last seven years of the life of American poet, Sylvia Plath (1932-63).

Film Review: Sylvia gives a good solid try, but ends up being too much bio and not enough pic. The film begins with Sylvia Plath meeting her future husband and the future poet laureate, Ted Hughes, and carefully checks off key points in Plath's life: driven, Fulbright Scholar, past suicide attempts, Cambridge, his book, America, a child, jealousy, moving to the country, her book, his cheating, another child, The Bell Jar, and we know how it ends. Which is one of the two problems here: although there is an underlying tension, the audience knows how the story will end, so how does the film get past that and become immediate, rather than simply a set up for what we know is coming? Gwyneth Paltrow works hard, and gives a visually convincing portrayal of Plath. But despite a game effort, the film finally doesn't really connect us to the poetry (the second problem with the film; perhaps insurmountable) or give us a sense of what made Plath a great poet. Much of the time Paltrow is left to silently sit, stand, or stare, lost in emotion. Meshing film and poetry is no easy task, and I just don't see many viewers wanting to run out and read Plath's amazing poetry after seeing Sylvia. Daniel Craig is also visually solid, but isn't given a lot to do except to be harsh, cold, and abusive while continually cheating, despite his knowledge of Plath's insecurity and fragility. We know from his biographers that he was a serial cheater and was carrying on at least two affairs at the time of Plath's death. A key moment is when Plath says, "Now he's gone. I'm free. I can finally write," but the beginning of the Ariel poems, the sudden unfiltered release of emotion, is also too much for her. Although Plath is presented as proto-feminist, both domestic goddess, saddled alone with two children, and ambitious writer, that is not what made her one of the most underrated poets of our time (known more for her life than her shattering poetry). Plath reached the stage most poets never do: perfectly combining emotion, words, and herself. Although I've focused here on the difficulties the filmmakers faced, the end result is still worth watching for the strong performances despite any frustrations with the finished product.