Set Fire to the Stars (2014)

An aspiring poet in 1950s New York has his ordered world shaken when he embarks on a week-long retreat to save his hell raising hero, Dylan Thomas.

Director:

Andy Goddard

Writers:

Andy Goddard (co-writer), Celyn Jones (co-writer)

Stars:

Elijah Wood, Celyn Jones, Kelly Reilly

7 wins & 9 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Elijah Wood	...	John M. Brinnin
Celyn Jones	...	Dylan Thomas
Kelly Reilly	...	Caitlin
Steven Mackintosh	...	Jack
Shirley Henderson	...	Shirley
Kevin Eldon	...	Stanley
Steve Speirs	...	Mickey
Richard Brake	...	Mr. Unlucky
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Andrew Bicknell	...	Loomis
Kate Drew	...	Janet
Ken Drury	...	Doctor
Nicola Duffett
Weston Gavin	...	Yale Provost
Adam Gillen	...	Harvey
Polly Hemingway	...	Miss Missy 1

Storyline

In 1950, John Brinnan invited the highly acclaimed and infamous Dylan Thomas to New York for a series of poetry readings. Ignoring rumors of Thomas' frivolities back home, Brinnan has his hands full when the poet arrives. Desperate to get his watchful university chaplains off his back, Brinnan takes Thomas to his family retreat in the woods of Connecticut. But even in the middle of nowhere, the resourceful and cantankerous Thomas finds an audience for his art, passion, love and aggression...

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Plot Keywords:

1950s | reference to superman | f word | reference to seabiscuit | title spoken by character | 

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Taglines:

A week with Dylan Thomas.

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Genres:

Biography | Drama

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official Website

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 June 2015 (USA)

Also Known As:

Dylan Thomas Amerikában

Filming Locations:

Swansea, Wales, UK

Box Office

Budget:

GBP700,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$1,132, 14 June 2015

Gross USA:

$4,280

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$4,280

Company Credits

Production Co:

Mad As Birds, Masnomis

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The character "Shirley", played by Shirley Henderson, is referred to only by her married name of Hyman, but is, in fact, Shirley Jackson, the famous authoress of "The Haunting Of Hill House" (filmed twice as "The Haunting") and "The Lottery". The real Shirley Jackson looked nothing like Ms. Henderson.

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Goofs

When Dylan and John's "boxing" gets out of hand, Shirley exclaims, "Don't get your pantyhose in a knot." Pantyhose were not available to the public until 1959.

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Quotes

Dylan Thomas: There is no secret, John. No Holy Grail. Just what's in front of all of us. Don't open a book. Open a window.

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Soundtracks

It Was Hot That Summer
featuring Elijah Wood

User Reviews

A monumental achievement: where art-house and great entertainment are snug bedfellows

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.