I blogged last month about the U.K. June release date for upcoming British film The Edge of Love, starring Sienna Miller and Keira Knightley. A biopic about the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas, Edge features Miller as his wife, Caitlin MacNamara, and Knightley as his former flame, Vera Phillips.
The movie has been on my radar — or rather my gaydar — since 2006, when Lindsay Lohan (who was then attached to star in Sienna Miller’s role) told MTV, “[Keira] is older than me, but she kind of has a mysterious relationship with my lover. And then there’s somewhat of a lesbian undertone.”
Although scriptwriter Sharman Macdonald (who is also Keira’s mum) has since made it clear that there won’t be any overt physical relationship between Knightley and Miller’s characters, all the suggestions have been that the emotional relationship between them will be central to the story.
The trailer for the film is now out, and I’m not entirely sure what I think:
It starts off promisingly, and the Brokeback Mountain echoes in the text make me giggle: “TWO WOMEN … A RIVALRY … THAT BECAME A FRIENDSHIP.” I’m just waiting for them to add “THAT BECAME A SECRET.”
On the other hand, the Atonement echoes are less inspiring — not that I didn’t like that movie, but I’m not sure I need to watch Keira whisper “Come back” to her soldier lover all over again.
It also looks like the heterosexual romances will be taking up quite a substantial part of the story. As well as the love triangle between Dylan, Caitlin and Vera, there is also the relationship between Vera and Captain William Killick (played by Cillian Murphy). The real-life Killick provided the original inspiration for the movie when he opened fire on the Thomas home with a machine gun and a hand grenade in 1945, allegedly because of jealousy over his wife’s friendship with Thomas (although others have claimed it was actually over a pub brawl and had nothing to do with romance.)
One thing the movie unequivocally will provide is a chance to hear Knightley sing. Apparently in her role as Vera she performs “Blue Tahitian Moon,” “Maybe It’s Because I Love You Too Much,” and “Drifting and Dreaming.”
Though I’m disappointed that the trailer doesn’t focus more on the relationship between Knightley and Miller’s characters, I’m definitely still planning to see the movie. What about you? Has the trailer got you interested?
