The wind rings fierce in its desolation. Seagulls somehow manage to stay aloft, their cries barely reaching the ears of those below. Half-wild, dirty sheep, fleet-hoofed of necessity, have run of the fields and tor-sides and stone paths, their guard-dogs always within sight. Waves torment the rocks, spitting sea spray in all directions.
There is entrancing beauty to be found within the isolated fishing island's physical struggle with the elements. Born of green meadows, the cliffs drop off perilously to the moving water below. Houses, village buildings--even the kirk--are carved from the hillsides. Nothing in Hirta is separate from the earth or the weather.Everything that has been made from the hands of man is as tied to nature as the inhabitants are to their Lord and their Laird.
We first meet the final residents of Hirta, already a decade gone, as their memories move ghost-like through the village, treading down the path to shore. From this point, to the closing credits, we are given their story first-hand.
Although, elsewhere, it is the Roaring Twenties, the island is a living museum to the old ways. The residents have become increasing aged, as youth--particularly males--flee to the mainland as soon as they are able.It is a vast old folks home, where even the middle-aged, though infectiously hearty,seem older than they are.
Robbie, Ruth and Andrew's youth shines forth like a beacon. The trio of young-adults represents the best hope for the island's future. Robbie and Ruth are amicable twins, Andrew is best-friends with the former and betrothed to the latter.
The fate of Hirta itself has already divided the small community, with some favouring abandonment and removal to Scotland and others preferring to stick it out. The two young men are in strong disagreement. A lazy Sabbath afternoon turns quickly from camaraderie to a stand-off, resulting in a silly boy's bet that ends with death, feuding and broken promises.
Andrew successfully completes the wager by climbing, without gear, the tallest cliff on the island. Robbie plunges to a sodden death in the sea below. The entire village is plunged into mourning. It is a culture where a tragedy affects everyone, and where celebration is equally shared. There will be no wedding, only a funeral. Robbie's father, Peter Manson, delivers the funeral invitations orally, as he solemnly walks from house to house with the news that they already know.
Andrew leaves Hirta for a life elsewhere. He cannot stay so near to the woman whom he is no longer allowed to marry. Small dramas unfold herein,including the birth and sickness of Ruth's daughter, illegitimate but welcomed as a gift by every islander. The reconciliation of Andrew, Ruth and her father is expected but not forced. It is a small point of happiness in a film barren of either hope or a conciliatory happy ending.
It is Peter Manson who ultimately signs the letter of appeal that is sent to the mainland. His daughter and her family now safe off of the island, he prepares to depart along with the others. Families, their belongings and livestock are all en route to the boat that will take them away from their embattled but beloved island home. A girl shepherds her kittens into a basket, signs are torn from businesses, keys are turned in locks one last time. They are removing themselves wholesale from the only place they have ever loved because their way of life is no longer tenable in the modern world.
The end of the film is anticipated from the very beginning yet it is wrenching in the most unexpected ways. I held my fingers to my lips,actually biting my nails, as the last tragedy unfolded terrifyingly slowly. It plays out in real time, taking several minutes to occur.
"The Edge of the World" (1937)begins with a prologue, set in the year of its release. A party of three, two men and a woman, sail to the island on a day-excursion. One of the former knows the sad events behind the island's abandonment; it is he who starts the narration, giving us the story behind a tombstone bearing the inscription "Peter Manson-GONE OVER."
It is easy to imagine "The Edge of the World" as a silent film. The dialogue is appropriately spare, direct and passionate. Yet it is a logical step to think of how it would play if words were excised altogether. The cutting of the film would lend itself admirably to a silent feature: it moves quickly from scene to scene, allowing for no smooth transition. There is no time to mull things over and it is visually jumpy.The black and white cinematography is balm to the harsh landscape, resulting in something that is wonderful to watch. The Women of The Glasgow Orpheus Choir provide the mournful soundtrack to the drama, infusing it with the only other stimulus needed.
So many of the scenes seem like tableaux from an earlier cinematic era: fiddlers and dancers alike moving to a reel; Andrew's father clicking his heels together as he walks with a lantern in one hand, a pipe in the other; the old women of the village, sitting arow on a hillside, knitting for the newborn babe, while she is being rocked by her mother.
"The Edge of the World" is an endangered species: it is a film that crawls in your head and sticks there, for all of the best reasons. It is not memorable for violence, sex, or action. It is stark and visually stunning. Its story, inspired by real life events, is forceful, empathetic, unvarnished and understated. It improves with each viewing yet its impact does not become diluted.
"THE EDGE OF THE WORLD"-1937 Written and Directed by Michael Powell
Starring-
John Laurie
Belle Chrystall
Eric Berry
Finlay Currie
Niall MacGinnis
Grant Sutherland
and, in the Prologue:
Michael Powell and his wife Frankie Reidy
The photo is of the subtle, superlative John Laurie, taken during the production of a later film, "Happy Go Lovely".
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