The Inferno

Issue date: 10/28/03 Section: Film

Gwyneth Paltrow plays Sylvia Plath in the screen version of the troubled poet´s life.

[2 out of 5]

Sylvia, directed by Christine Jeffs, is an account of the life of Sylvia Plath- or rather, Sylvia Plath's marriage to the British poet, Ted Hughes. To any diehard Plath fan, it is also an abomination. The famed Gwyneth Paltrow plays Sylvia Plath, while a virtually unknown Daniel Craig (Hotel Splendid, Tomb Raider) is Hughes.

The movie opens to Plath discovering that a poem of hers has been reviewed rather harshly in a Cambridge literary rag, and subsequently, stumbling onto a poem by Hughes.

Later, she meets him at a party at which she bites his cheek. However, although there are a few dead-on moments such as this, there are also a slew of historical inaccuracies. There are also moments that lend an exhausting bit of credence to the notion that the only thing interesting about Plath was that she was depressed and suicidal-not to mention the idea that each and every poem had a hidden meaning that led to her life's predestined conclusion. All of this is nonsense, of course- nothing in her life was that black and white.

Although the truth is that much of Plath's life indeed revolved around her husband, most of the film is voyeurism and fantasies derived from gossip brought to larger scale. In attempting to not take sides in the saga, which is wise, the writers have nevertheless focused so much on the deterioration of the marriage and Plath herself.

Furthermore, in a scene near the end of the film, writers took a merely speculated-upon rendezvous between the couple and turned it into the final straw, the reason for Plath's final plunge into darkness.

The moments following a sultry scene between the poets, in which confessions are made, is simply pure fiction. Considering the fact that the real Hughes swore in his final days that the two had been headed toward reconciliation at the time of Plath's death, it can only be concluded that this is an irresponsible fabrication.

The truth is that no movie about the life of such a notorious artist would ever live up to the expectations of devoted fans. However, one would at least hope that truth would play more of a part. On the up side, performances by Paltrow and Craig are gorgeous.

Their readings of poetry by Hughes and Plath, as well as a bit of Yeats and Shakespeare, are impressive. There are a few scattered, deeply poignant moments which ring true and often, are humorous - just before delving into the irredeemably morose.

The lighting in the film is always somber and arty, in a cool, be it pretentious, way. The sets depicting the homes of the artists are perfectly aligned with anything a fan of the poet could imagine.

Although the film's look is sleek, as a whole it is a disappointment.

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