When I first read the blurb for Set Fire to the Stars, I had a horrible moment where I thought that someone had cast Elijah Wood to play Welsh poet Dylan Thomas. Thankfully, I was mistaken: that honor goes to Celyn Jones (Castles in the Sky), with Wood acting alongside him as John M. Brinnin.
Brinnin is a fellow writer and admirer of Thomas, who goes on a week long retreat with his hero during the poet’s first visit to New York City. Today, the first UK trailer for the film hit and it depicts a world and a poet that was really one of a kind.
Based on the footage here, this looks like a true literary odd couple. Thomas was a notorious drinker and wild man, while Wood’s Brinnin is depicted as a slightly more quiet and sedate young writer – perhaps a bit in awe of the brilliant but mercurial poet.
The black and white photography might come off as an austere and appropriate way of depicting the nostalgic past, or veer into overly stylized or sentimental territory. I’m always a tad suspicious when a contemporary directors opts to put history into grayscale, but the story itself sounds interesting enough – and Thomas an intriguing enough figure – to make me give director Andy Goddard (Downton Abbey) the benefit of the doubt.
Set Fire to the Stars also stars Kelly Reilly, Steven Mackintosh, and Shirley Henderson, though the stars are obviously Jones and Wood. Still, they have obviously got some good support in the secondary cast.
There is no U.S. release day as yet, but Set Fire to the Stars is set to premiere in the United Kingdom on November 7. So check out the trailer and see what you think. Good, bad, or indifferent, Dylan Thomas is certainly a fascinating figure to make a movie about.
