P.S. Some guy named Klondike who moderates here knows all about this one, but he never told me anything about it!!
Edge of the World (1937)
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Mr. Arkadin
- Posts: 2645
- Joined: April 14th, 2007, 3:00 pm
Edge of the World (1937)
A heads up for this little seen Michael Powell work, Edge is an incredible looking film that anticipates films like Visconti's La Terra Trema (1947) by a decade. As times change, a fishing village slowly erodes to extinction. If this sounds like good bait to you, cast your line tomorrow morning!
P.S. Some guy named Klondike who moderates here knows all about this one, but he never told me anything about it!!
P.S. Some guy named Klondike who moderates here knows all about this one, but he never told me anything about it!!
I had this on my calendar, but I put alot of movies on my calendar and whether they're watched is often left to the Fates. Mr. Arkadin's post nudged me in the correct direction and for that I thank him.
This was the sixth Michael Powell film I've watched and the second non-Archer film (PEEPING TOM being the other). Be it my ignorance, vulgar taste, or contrarianism, I find EDGE OF THE WORLD and PEEPING TOM, separated by twenty-three years and the Archers, to be the most intriguing of the lot.
The cinematography alone is sufficient reason to see EDGE OF THE WORLD, but each beautiful frame moves the narrative, as it must in a great film, and sheds light on its message. Nature is in charge of the film's world, dwarving each individual, and giving the villagers only two options -- stay and die, or leave and live. I found the look and feel -- if not the resolution -- of the film's showing Man's almost mystical response to communal instincts reminding me of some of Dreyer's work, especially ORDET. I will watch this at every future opportunity.
This was the sixth Michael Powell film I've watched and the second non-Archer film (PEEPING TOM being the other). Be it my ignorance, vulgar taste, or contrarianism, I find EDGE OF THE WORLD and PEEPING TOM, separated by twenty-three years and the Archers, to be the most intriguing of the lot.
The cinematography alone is sufficient reason to see EDGE OF THE WORLD, but each beautiful frame moves the narrative, as it must in a great film, and sheds light on its message. Nature is in charge of the film's world, dwarving each individual, and giving the villagers only two options -- stay and die, or leave and live. I found the look and feel -- if not the resolution -- of the film's showing Man's almost mystical response to communal instincts reminding me of some of Dreyer's work, especially ORDET. I will watch this at every future opportunity.
I've really gotten into Powell films, the last couple of years and this is one of my favorites. For those who've only seen it on TCM, the Milestone DVD is great too as it also contains Powell's 1978 documentary "Return to the Edge of the World" in which Powell and some of the remaining cast and crew return to the Island" after all those years.
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Mr. Arkadin
- Posts: 2645
- Joined: April 14th, 2007, 3:00 pm