At times my poetic prowess reaches as far as "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish." Most prose filled literature bounce over my head, but I'm not totally blind to the verse language.There are a number of movies that have come along to awaken my vernacular intellect. Adaptations of Shakespearean works such as Hamlet, Much Ado About Nothing, Richard III and Othello. Modern films like The Remains of the Day, Six Degrees of Separation, Agnes of God, Inglourious Basterds, even the romantic comedy Roxanne have dialog that's swept from a Broadway stage dripping with idyllic narratives. I can now add Set Fire to the Stars on this list.My first impression of the semi-autobiographical film of Welsh poet Dylan Thomas' first visit to America by the hands of John Malcolm Brinnin took me to a place where I thought I should be marveling at the actors and sets in a stage play. The lines that leap from the screenplay makes me grateful to be a fan of films such as this. Every now and then one comes along that utilizes speech in a way that makes it masterful.My second impression instantly made me revel at the glossy black and white cinematography. It's punchier, brighter and crisper than any monochrome 1950s movie I've seen. I can't get that image of New York City's skyline with falling snowflakes out of my head. It reminded me a snow-globe in which the city glowed and shimmered like the energetic place it is.Other than the stark imagery, the performances are just as captivating. It's both difficult and entrancing to watch Celyn Jones bring the poet to life. To see someone recklessly destroy himself as well as those around him should make one appalled. When Dylan is stripped from New York City and taken to John's quiet country home, it's sort of like caging a wild lion. In the DVD outtake he says to John, "It's like a Presbyterian wake." Dylan does get loose and has a unique way of alluring people to him. He also has a knack of alienating them. It's not due to his celebrity, but his inclination with words and brash demeanor. Celyn as Thomas is a being who is poetry in motion. He's both devil and angel, moral and corrupt, bitter and sweet, tears and laughter.Elijah Wood is suited well in this period piece with the look of a classic actor from the era in which the film is set. As opposed to Dylan, there's not much known about John Brinnin. However, the way Elijah portrays the Harvard scholar, he makes us believe the literary critic to be reserved but holds a powerful status. We struggle with John every step of the way as he wants to be a colleague and advocate but instead is diminished to a caretaker and scapegoat. Despite all this John is still an admirer. In one scene he watches Thomas recite his poem "And Death Shall Have No Dominion" to the Yale big wigs. Dylan fumbles at first then settles in. The camera closes in on John and you can feel the admiration in his eyes while the others show little sign of validation. Elijah delivers in this film just as eloquently as Celyn.Together, Elijah and Celyn poured themselves into these men and brought a precarious relationship to the screen. One is loose while the other restrained. John pushed Dylan as much as Dylan pushed John. The two were like oil and vinegar but when mixed properly, they delivered a savory retort. There was a bit of a montage of them working intently on their upcoming engagement at Yale. I would have loved to witness more of that collaboration and listened how they discussed, agreed and bickered. It was a quiet battle between them and when all seemed good, one did something to destroyed what they had working.The supporting cast is great composed of Shirley and Stanley, a married couple who live near Brinnin's lake home, coming in to have a wild evening of drinking and story-telling. Rosie, a spunky little waitress in a diner and Jack, John's adversary from Yale who wants to see John fail knowing the attitude of Thomas. One of the stronger scenes is the apparition of Dylan's wife Caitlin. Throughout the movie there is a letter from her that Dylan refuses to open. It scares him to do so and that bothers John deeply.When Caitlin appears to Dylan, she speaks and taunts him with her poetry on why he left her and their children and why he had to. This exchange arouses Dylan to behave in the manner John has been wanting him to act since they met. John is now upset by what Dylan's wife may have written and says, "What did that woman say? What did she say that awoke you from your dream? I need to know. What is it she can scribble down in her violent, cheap-hand that eclipses my entire being?" After they struggle about, Dylan brings the movie to its purpose. "Don't open a book." he says. "Open a window," explaining to John life is in right front of him.It's hard to believe they shot this film in 18 days. One would think it took months to complete if not for the dialog alone. Not knowing Thomas' work, it doesn't bother me that his poems are not recited in their entirety. I'm glad in fact. As I said, most poems need to rhyme for me to understand them, but just enough of them are spoken to help the screenplay along. But if you're aching to hear them, they are recited by Celyn in the DVD extras.If this were to be in the running at the Oscars, I could see Set Fire to the Stars getting a nod for cinematography and screenplay. Celyn Jones and writer/director Andy Goddard penned a beautifully scripted and photographed piece of cinema.

Beautifully shot in black and white, this film offers a unique insight into Dylan Thomas' tortured soul...and more It's a sensitive yet gritty portrayal that keeps you hooked throughout. Celyn Jones and Elijah Wood have a natural chemistry on screen in their respective roles, with top class acting completing this gorgeous work of art. Jones' energy and dynamism in particular is enthralling. Thoroughly recommend viewing. Oh, and the cinematography is stunning. Loved the ethereal appearance of Thomas' wife. Ps For someone that has not taken an interest in Dylan Thomas before, I am now officially inspired to read his work. Could you ask for any more?

Everyone in the cinema was quite struck by the profound and beautiful movie that is "Set Fire To The Stars". You could see it in the faces of the audience, as each person figured out which message had the most resonance.This movie is much more than another biopic of an artist on the fringe of society. And for most audiences, it will be much more meaningful than Dylan Thomas's poetry. It took me a while to process the resonance for me in this movie. I had to filter the welcome enormity of Elijah Wood's screen presence and Celyn Jones' powerful persona. But they gave me enough gentle nudges and artistic clues under Andy Goddard's direction to lead me to the following conclusion: the purpose of this film is to unravel some of the mysteries of male friendship, and to lift the veil on hero worship (which Elijah must experience on the other side, in his real life) and, of course, where Dylan helped, it was on the transformative power of words. With all this colour going on, the superb aesthetic of the black and white film compliments the mood nicely. Tantalisingly the film gives no pithy answers, or sound-bitten sentimentalism. Instead I need to look inside myself, and perhaps within the poetry of Dylan Thomas, to find some of those answers. Or maybe I just need to watch it again.This review also needs to pay justice to the sheer entertainment value that is throughout the movie. I loved it - from start to finish. Elijah's performance is incredible. Celyn's character is jaw- droppingly intriguing (and believable), and the music from Gruff Rhys (of Super Furry Animals fame) is beautiful at all times and crosses a range of genres and styles. Everything is in balance, except Dylan's psyche - and that's what makes it fun! This is a monumental achievement, where intellectualism and pure fun entertainment ride side by side. Perhaps it is the start of a new genre - where intellectual movies have taken their heads out of the clouds and are doing it with a smile. I'm sure that's how Dylan would have wanted it to be.

A black and white two hander some what similar in concept to Christopher Munch's Lennon/Epstein double header "The Hours and Times" or Simon Curtis' more recent "My week with Marilyn" Set Fire to the Stars shows us a semi-fictionalised account of a few days in the lives of Welsh poet Dylan Thomas (Celyn Jones) and the literary professor John Brinnin (Elijah Wood) who brings him to perform in New York. A raging alcoholic Dylan Thomas leaves behind a trial of destruction while also teaching Brinnin that poetry is about more than technique but about feeling and living and being.Early reviews cited some disappointment that this film wasn't more in the spirit of Withnail and I. The link is understandable as a large section of the film features two opposing personalities (one of whom clearly struggles with drink) spending time together in a remote cabin but the comparison is a little lazy. Though at times laugh out loud funny this is a long way from some Brit-com romp and is instead a thoughtful and thought provoking piece on the difference between the academic and the artist.Celyn Jones' performance as Dylan Thomas is perfectly pitched. It would have been easy for him to have slipped into caricature but he makes Thomas real and presents us with a man who is clearly troubled but who is also brimming full with warmth and passion. As is clear from the poet's work he was all too aware of the fleeting nature of life and Jones shows that. His Thomas doesn't want to waste a moment (often to the detriment of those around him). He is also aware of his gift with words but unlike the academics he meets doesn't want to look too closely at why his poetry works in case through knowing he loses it all.While Thomas is about the magic of the words (demonstrated best by the look of pure joy when horror writer Shirley Jackson finishes her tale) Elijah Wood's Brinnin is about wanting to know why those words were chosen in the first place. There is a moment when Brinnin asks one too many questions about poetical technique and Thomas/Jones goes from laughter to a face twisted with rage in an instant. His Dylan is a wild beast who you do not want to rile. For me the best scene in the film is when he tires of the masters from the Ivy League Universities and decides to prick their pomposity with a few well delivered limericks. Jones shows us not just a drunk at a table but an artist all too aware he is about to press the self destruct button. We also see in Jones' performance the regrets and fears that Dylan had to live with because of his behaviour as well as the understanding of the power his words carried. "Tell him Dylan Thomas thinks he's great" he suggest to Brinnin when reviewing the work of one of his students; knowing that sometimes less really is more.The success of Lord of the Rings has clearly given Wood the freedom to pick roles that interest him and John Malcolm Brinnin is no exception. His performance is subtle but with the massiveness of Thomas next to him it needs to be. It would have been easy for Brinnin to simply be the straight man, the academic clearly out of his depth and picking up the pieces left in Thomas' wake but the character goes deeper than that. Wood's Brinnin isn't just hanging on for the ride, he is very much part of it and his character develops throughout. He goes from wanting to protect his career to protecting his friend.The acting across the board is of a particularly high class. Shirley Henderson and Kelly Reilly (who emerges nymph like from Dylan's self consciousness) have been singled out by many for praise but mention should also be made of Kevin Eldon as Shirley's cuckolded husband Stanley, Steven Mackintosh as Brinnin's boss Jack and an exceptional turn from Richard Brake as the mysterious "Mr Unlucky." The script written by Jones and Goddard is based upon Brinnin's 1957 "Dylan Thomas in America" but the film actually covers no more that the first 30 pages of 300. The critically lauded scene of the meeting with Shirley Jackson for example is one brief paragraph. The integral letter from Thomas' wife Caitlin mentioned in no more than a couple of sentences. Drunken exploits are referred to in Brinnin's book but never expanded upon. It is remarkable that so much of the script is fiction because it flows and feels so true. The script is clever, witty and moving. The quality of the acting obviously helps but those words have got to come from somewhere.Visually as well the film is stunning. It is a snapshot of a moment of Thomas' life and the cinematography reflects that; capturing beautiful moments in crisp black and white. There is a wonderful overhead shot of Dylan in the bath, fully clothed and surrounded by floating candy wrappers. Comedy and tragedy there for all to see. Accompanying the images is Gruff Rhys gorgeous soundtrack, a new breed of Welsh poet.There are other reasons to admire and love this film. Viewers should know that it was shot in less than two weeks by a crew for many of whom this was their debut feature film. You should know that this was filmed entirely on location in Swansea, Wales with a few carefully placed fire hydrants creating the illusion of New York. That none of these things are apparent from what is on the screen is just another reason to be stunned by what has been achieved.