Stars: Gwyneth Paltrow, Daniel Craig, Jared Harris, Blythe Danner, Michael Gambon, Amira Casar

Director: Christine Jeffs

Summary: The early years of Sylvia Plath's marriage to fellow poet Ted are plagued by doubts of his infidelity. The question is whether he is unfaithful because of her own lack of inspiration or whether her own state of mind is worsening because of his affairs. It is only after their separation that Sylvia is able to write the poetry that made her famous...

Director Christine Jeffs takes the heartbreaking story of writer Sylvia Plath's life and suicide (which has taken on mythological significance in certain literary circles) and renders it in a palette of surprising beauty. The film paints the story in dark greens, reds and the arresting blues of a recurring water motif. Dealing less with the professional lives of Plath and her husband Edward "Ted" Hughes, and delving more deeply into their notoriously tempestuous marriage, SYLVIA takes risks by attempting to portray what both Plath's family and Hughes (until just before his death in 1998) have remained extremely quiet about. John Brownlow's screenplay fingers no villain, painting both Hughes and Plath as flawed and complex.
Beginning in England in 1956, the film depicts American poet Sylvia (Gwyneth Paltrow)--who has a history of depression and suicide attempts--attending Cambridge University on a Fulbright Scholarship. While at a party, she meets Ted (Daniel Craig), a dashing student and fellow poet. The chemistry between them is electric, and they become immediately inseparable, their mutual love of verse the glue that holds them together. But Sylvia's success in her art gives way to jealous madness as other women lavish their attentions on Ted. Her subsequent descent into the deepest of depressions leads to her suicide in 1962. In this stirring film, Paltrow hits a high note in her career with her portrayal of Sylvia.

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Main Language:	English
Region:	Region 2
Special Features:	Featurette - 1. Behind-the-Scenes: Including interviews and on-set footage, Original Theatrical Trailer
Year:	2003
Release Date:	July 26, 2004
Runtime:	114 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	10001237
Keywords:	General, Sylvia, Drama
Genre:	Drama