Director: Andy Goddard
Cast: Elijah Wood, Celyn Jones
Certificate: 15
Running Time: 97 minutes
Synopsis: Set in 1950’s America a young professor secures the gig of a lifetime – hosting famed Welsh poet Dylan Thomas. After being confronted with his idol’s true nature however, the young professor finds himself questioning everything, even himself…
After the phenomenon that was THE LORD OF THE RINGS series, Elijah Wood continues to skirt major Hollywood projects in favour of smaller, artier and more meaningful stories. SET FIRE TO THE STARS is another one of these more intimate films, with the majority of screen time just featuring two men. Wood plays John Malcolm Brinnin, a polite and mousey poetry professor whose own works keep getting overlooked. His biggest hero is Welsh poet Dylan Thomas, and through a chance of fate, Brinnin finds the literary master his ward. The personalities of the pair couldn’t be more different (at least outwardly) with the professor being very shy and retiring, and Thomas being anything but. This difference shows through their scribbling’s, and after spending a weekend away together in a secluded lake side cabin, the pair both emerge changed in some way.
Those that have seen the American version of television series Wilfred will notice more than a passing resemblance between John and the show’s lead Ryan, and not because they have the same face. Both characters are uptight, like tightly coiled springs about to burst at any moment, and find themselves confronted with their polar opposite, a laid back carefree spirit. Thomas on the other hand is masking several problems. Jones is wonderful as the hypnotic Thomas, playing a cascade of emotions in every scene.
SET FIRE TO THE STARS tries to recreate the atmosphere and setting of the 1950’s in every frame, and for the most part succeeds in transporting the viewer to the days of yesteryear. The slight disconnect comes from the choice to use a monochrome palette. It obviously adds a lot of style to the work, with grey tones aiding in making the film feel like it is in fact from the fifties. However, this way of filming is done so infrequently these days that it is a little hard to loose yourself fully as the brain scrambles to create vibrant colours out of what it is seeing on screen.
A film in the same vein as MY WEEK WITH MARILYN, the film highlights the dangers of meeting your heroes and reminds us that no one should be put on a pedestal. .
[usr=3] SET FIRE TO THE STARS is released in selected cinemas from 7th November 2014.
