Suggested by
Nicky Smith
Extracted from
http://www.csmonitor.com/durable/2000/01/14/f-p15s3.shtml
'Edge of World' still cuts it
David Sterritt, Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
14th January 2000
It's about 11 months too early for predictions about the best movies of
2000, but a likely contender has already arrived - direct from the vaults
of film history, where "The Edge of the World" has been languishing since
its original run in 1937. It's back in circulation thanks to Milestone Film
& Video, which is releasing a crisp-looking new edition from a restored
negative and soundtrack prepared by the British Film Institute.
Why should this picture receive a new lease on life in American theaters?
One answer is to name some of the talents who made it. The cast features
John Laurie, best known as the misanthropic Crofter in Alfred
Hitchcock's unforgettable "The 39 Steps," and Finlay Currie, who's
appeared in a long list of British and American films. More important, it
was written and directed by Michael Powell, a giant of British cinema
whose classics (often done in collaboration with Emeric Pressburger, his
longtime partner) include "The Red Shoes" and "Peeping Tom," to name
just a couple. He was a major influence on Martin Scorsese and other key
American filmmakers before his death in 1990.
The main reason to see "The Edge of the World," though, is the superb
quality of the movie itself, set on a British island whose inhabitants are
struggling to maintain their traditional way of life despite increasingly
hard times and the reluctance of younger folks to remain there. Told with
old-fashioned simplicity yet avoiding any trace of sentimentality or
emotionalism, it's a small-scale masterpiece that shouldn't be missed by
anyone interested in cinematic storytelling at its most compelling.
*Not rated; contains no objectionable material.
[What, not even Ruth having a chile out of wedlock?]
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