The Edge of the World

An interesting film and well worth seeing for those interested in Scottish theme films. The comparison with Man of Aran is valid, in that it depicts an isolated island community struggling to eke out an existence.

What was missing for me was even a hint at the language these island people of "Hirta" would have spoken, Scottish Gaelic. The church scene with its psalm singing was executed better than in "The Little Minister", but still without making an effort to portray the real thing. The singing was in English, using a Lowland style and the precentor did not chant the line, but read it! They had clearly not visited any Highland churches before preparing the scene.

The documentary film, appended to this, "Return to the Edge of the World" was wonderful and I found it equally enjoyable.

What's it like to live on a treeless rock in the middle of the roiling north Atlantic. We get a pretty good idea from master film-maker Michael Powell who set up his camera in such a place with a few actors, a scant script, and actual residents as extras. And a heck-of-a movie it is. The result looks like something from the neolithic era, with its crude rock huts, long barren vistas, and a few hunkered-down plants, along with jagged cliffs rising out of the sea like the face of God. One thing for sure -- there's no lack of fresh air .

I can't imagine the movie was made for commercial potential. It resembles Robert Flaherty's gripping documentary of life in the Irish Sea, Man of Aran, which may be why Powell distinguished his effort with a story-line. But the visuals are quite similar. And that's fine, because the craggy vistas are unforgettable. This is close to movie making at its purest and most visual. In fact, on another viewing, I think I'll turn off the sound and simply gasp at the other-world imagery.

The story may be secondary, but it's appropriate. The few remaining islanders are leaving after centuries of habitation because of deteriorating conditions. There's a romantic complication, but thankfully it doesn't get in the way. A few scenes etch themselves in my memory-- the sheep dogs lined-up outside the crude church, the tiny mail-carrying boats tossed into the sea like wishes, but most of all, the overawing sea cliffs, endless in their poetry and power. It's got to be here that the earth meets the sky or whatever it is that's above.

Rather hard for me to believe that this spartan black and white was made by the same artist who made the splashy Technicolors of The Red Shoes and Peeping Tom. But Powell excelled at cinema regardless of format, putting him in the same league as the few other British masters like Alfred Hitchcock. But whatever the pedigree, this 80 minutes of air, rock and water remains a really compelling oddity.

Odd little film directed by Michael Powell long before his huge success once teamed with Emeric Pressburger.

Subtitled "the death of an island," the film chronicles the dreary lives of island folk as seen in flashback by the former residents years after. Victims of the changing world, commercialized fishing, and isolation, the islanders finally pack it in and move to the mainland after the death of one young man and a near miss with a baby.

Set in an era before electricity and telephones the film shows just how isolated the people are on the various islands north of Scotland. Independent and stubborn, they cling to their rock even though they know the end is coming.

The story is slim: the young people are in crisis of whether to stay and keep the island going or go to the mainland and get good-paying jobs. The story shows us their lives on the island of Hirta (which means death) and the draw of the cities.

Almost shot in documentary form, Powell constantly shows us the majestic beauty of the sparse rock of island versus the drab lives of the people. Their lives are built around church, social interaction, and trying to keep going.

The acting is minimal with a few familiar faces. John Laurie is the hard father who sees his son (Eric Berry) die in a stupid accident while climbing the face of sea rock. Belle Chrystall is Ruth and Niall MacGinnes is Robbie. Finlay Currie co-stars.

The island scenery is just gorgeous and Powell has a good eye for the incredible backdrops of sea and rock and waving grasses.

Michael Powell is best known for the films he made with Emeric Pressburger under the brand name "The Archers", but "The Edge of the World" from 1937 is a solo project, predating his partnership with Pressburger. It was inspired by the evacuation of the remote Scottish archipelago of St Kilda in 1930. Here the island is named "Hirta", which is the same name as that of the main island of the St Kilda group, but it is relocated from the Hebrides to the Orkneys or Shetlands. (Permission to film on St Kilda itself was refused, so filming actually took place on Foula in the Shetlands, although that island was, and remains to this day, inhabited).

A wealthy young couple, sailing around Scotland by yacht, arrive on the island where they discover abandoned cottages but no human inhabitants. They ask Andrew Gray, the skipper of their yacht and himself a native of the island, what happened, and he explains that the island has been deserted for ten years. He then tells them the story of how the population came to leave. The islanders were divided among themselves; some, including Andrew himself, wanted to stay whereas others, such as his close friend Robbie Manson, wanted to leave. Even families were split; Andrew's father James sided with Robbie, whereas Robbie's father Peter and his sister Ruth (who was also Andrew's sweetheart) were both among those determined to stay.

The story told here is partly based upon the true story of the evacuation of St Kilda and is partly fictitious. As on the real St Kilda, the main factor which is drawing people away from the fictitious island of "Hirta" is the greater employment opportunities offered to young people on the mainland. There is also the fact that there are no medical facilities on the island. The people of Hirta are also concerned that competition from commercial trawlers is damaging the local fishing industry. (This was not a factor on the real St Kilda, where the rough and perilous seas meant that the local people did little fishing). As the younger generation gradually leave, this makes it more difficult for those remaining to follow their traditional way of life which relies on strong, fit young people to help with the fishing and crofting and to gather sea birds' eggs from the cliffs. (This was an important source of protein in their diet).

Powell, born in Canterbury, may have been a native of southern England, but had a deep love of the Scottish highlands and islands; two of his later films with Pressburger, "The Spy in Black" and "I Know Where I'm Going!" were also set in the area. "The Edge of the World" can be seen as his tribute to the way of life of the local people, a life which Powell and his cast and crew shared for several months while on Foula. (No air service or regular ferry existed in 1937, meaning that they had to stay on the island for the whole length of the shoot).

While "The Edge of the World" tells a fictional story, it has a documentary feel to it, reminiscent of the documentary shorts such as "The Islanders" which were being produced by the GPO Film Unit around the same time. At this period life on remote islands was hard and lonely; the islanders of Foula, like those of St Kilda, had no gas, electricity or running water. They had never seen a car, an aircraft or even a bicycle. There were no radios and no postal service; their only way of communicating with the outside world was to launch a letter into the sea in a small wooden vessel, hoping it would be picked up by a passing ship. (They make use of this method during the film). The characters in the film refer to the mainland as "Scotland", as through Scotland were somewhere foreign, not the country where they live.

Powell shows us not only the hardships and dangers of their life but also their simple religious faith, their democratic ways (all decisions of importance are taken by an island Parliament) and their independent spirit. He also captures, in some striking black- and-white photography, the austere natural beauty of the island. The film may not have the complexity of some of his "Archers" films, but it has a beauty, a tragic power and a poetic simplicity which make it unusual in the annals of British film-making, matched in these respects perhaps only by Bryan Forbes' "Whistle Down the Wind". 9/10

A goof. The main story is said to have happened ten years ago, presumably in 1927, but the characters refer to the evacuation of St Kilda, which did not occur until 1930.

It was very strange watching a film that was shot on an Island that I can see out of my living room window (on clear days).

The film touched on many issues that affected people of the Shetlands around that time, but you should glad hearted, because in REAL life the people of Foula (the REAL Island) still managed to survive, there are approx 30 people living on Foula (Pronouced "Fulla") at this time, and they now have (as from the end of 2004), for the first time 24 hour electricity! (previously only 15 hours a days worth).

Of course, none of the main characters are from Shetland, because they sound Scottish. (The Shetland accent is a mix of Scots and Norwegian Dialect), but the film does its best.. and people who lived in Shetland NEVER spoke Scottish Gaelic.. ever.. tho they did speak Danish before the 17th Century...

This film is available in the Shetland Libraries, and it is watched with much mirth by us... watch and enjoy!