The Edge of the World

THE EDGE OF THE WORLD             A                

Great Britain  (81 mi)  1937  d:  Michael Powell

The seabirds were its first owners, and now the seabirds have it for their own again.

―Andrew Gray (Niall MacGinnis)

Among the truly rare and exceptional film experiences that are most memorable would have to include this film, a poignant elegy to the death of a community, featuring some of the most stunning black and white photography ever seen of life on an island off the coast of Scotland, accented by dramatic cliffs and treacherous seas, with humans, like mountain goats, daring to scale these rocky vistas with ease, turning this into a beautiful mix of naturalism and documentary, with utterly surreal moments that elevate what little story there is to a landscape accentuated tone poem.  Framed nearly entirely in flashback, it depicts the last of the island survivors, having to choose between the harsh and often barren soil that can’t sustain itself and returning to an easier life on the mainland.  To that end it’s similar to the choices being made in Julie Dash’s Daughters of the Dust (1991), absent the historical slave connections.  Due to an often ferocious ocean, mail delivery travel between the mainland and the island is reduced to just once a year, in effect cutting them off from the rest of the world, having to go it alone, dependent upon their own hard work and self-reliance.  Inspired by the story of the evacuation of St. Kilda in 1930, the most remote island group in Britain, a place of seemingly inaccessible rocky crags rising up from the sea, but for thousands of years it was a thriving community.  Powell kept a newspaper clipping of the story in his pocket for six years, determined to turn the story into a film.  Working as a still photographer for Alfred Hitchcock in early British silent films Champagne (1928) and Blackmail (1929), Powell claims he suggested the climactic ending of the latter film, where he and Hitchcock remained lifelong friends.  Between 1931 and 1936, Powell directed 23 films, up to seven per year, basically mastering his craft, though according to the director all are forgettable, described as quota quickies, hour-long films that satisfied Britain’s legal requirement to screen a minimum quota of British films.  So this is truly his first personal project, gathering together a cast and crew, like the director at the beginning of King Kong (1933), utilizing only those willing to spend months on an expedition to one of the most remote and isolated parts of the United Kingdom, filming on the island of Foula in the Shetland Isles (the northernmost inhabited site in the British Isles, as St. Kilda was considered too dangerous, where the Gaelic language had to be abandoned), where what was most essential was capturing the raw natural beauty of the location. 

Style wise, achieving exceptionally high production values using low budget methods, the film resembles the social realism of Dovzhenko’s EARTH (1930), especially the depiction of a working class drama, accentuating the harsh and barren conditions of working the land in such a remote region, showing the tilling of the soil, the work in the fields, the herding of sheep over rocky plateaus, and the hardscrabble life on the island, showing plenty of closeups of faces, all set in a world of cold austere beauty, almost like a Dreyer film, viewed as a working collective, eternally anguished by existential questions, with the men convening from time to time in a democratic parliament to voice their views about what to do, as food was shared throughout the community, taking care of the sick and old.  On St. Kilda, fishing was considered too dangerous, as many were drowned with their boats overturning just a few hundred feet from shore, instead they captured seabirds, which the island had in abundance, with the men lowering themselves on ropes from the clifftops, or climbing up the rocks from boats.  Islanders became expert climbers, something they learned in their youth.  The wind on the island was so strong that sheep and cattle were routinely blown off the cliffs, while the sounds of the waves beating against the cliffs was so loud it left villagers deaf for a week.  Trees could not grow there, and what few crops were planted often became polluted with salt water.  In the Roman era, believing the world was flat, St. Kilda was considered the last place on earth, with sailors viewing a giant wall rising from the sea, a reminder to explorers that this was as far as they could go.  This image opens the film, with massive cliffs appearing just above the waves, as a man (Michael Powell himself) and woman (Frankie Reidy, Powell’s future wife of forty years) are on a yacht sailing to the island, intent on staying overnight, against the advice of the sea captain, Andrew Gray (Niall MacGinnis), visiting a shoreline grave marker, with the captain recounting the story of the island in flashback.  How this begins is interesting, however, as Andrew is haunted by a flood of ghosts, the former inhabitants of the island, who stream across his line of vision, adding a touch of the surreal.  Additionally, there is an extremely dramatic orchestral score that includes an all woman’s choir (The Women of the Glasgow Orpheus Choir) conducted by Hugh Robertson that is not only operatic, but often feels otherworldly, along with a dire opening intertitle sequence that precedes the opening credits:

The slow shadow of Death is falling on the outer isles of Scotland. [scrolls up] This is the story of one of them ― and all of them.  When the Roman Fleet first sailed round Britain they saw from the Orkneys a distant island, like a blue haze across a hundred miles of sea.  They called it ― “ULTIMA THULE” [main title] THE EDGE OF THE WORLD

Using three cameramen, Monty Berman (fired early on), Skeets Kelly, and Ernest Palmer, where men are seen as tiny specks climbing over the tops of cliffs, dwarfed by the immensity of their surroundings, a community setting is introduced in the tiny, claustrophobic confines of a church, with people arriving from all across the island, a scene beautifully recreated by Terence Davies in 2016 Top Ten List #7 Sunset Song, with a pastor (Grant Sutherland) speaking a common theme of brotherhood.  With only three dozen people left, surviving on sheep and fish, the story concerns two families, the Mansons and the Grays, where Peter Manson (John Laurie) is the overly stern island patriarch, with a gruff exterior to match the hardness of the island, while his daughter Ruth (Belle Chrystall) is apparently the catch of the island, devoted to her father yet sensuous, exerting a feminine allure, though she behaves more like a movie star, hair always in place, wearing plenty of makeup.  Her twin brother is Robbie (Eric Berry), whose best friend Andrew Gray is his sister’s boyfriend.  The threesome enjoys laying on the grass on the bluffs overlooking the sea, arguing the eternal question, whether to go (to the mainland) or stay.  Peter and his son Robbie are staunchly in favor of staying, while Andrew and his father, always playing second fiddle to Peter, the easier to get along with James Gray (Finlay Currie), constantly seen smoking a pipe, are more inclined to move to the mainland.  The boys get in heated battle where the only way to settle the matter is retreating to the old ways, in a run up the rocky cliffs with no ropes, and may the better man win.  Despite the danger, the fathers agree, and the entire community comes out to watch an exciting duel between two of the strongest lads on the island, set at the bottom by boat, having to claw their way up to the top.  Despite explicit instructions at the outset describing the routes they would take, Robbie makes a dangerous life-altering change, getting stuck under the thunderous streams of a waterfall, hanging on for dear life, and then falling before help can arrive. This tragedy only intensifies the island’s divisions, as Andrew has literally no chance with Ruth, as her father refuses to speak to him, where his silence literally drives Andrew off the island, returning to the mainland.  In his absence, Ruth learns she’s pregnant and delivers a newborn without Andrew’s knowledge.  Due to the scarcity of mail deliveries, she resorts to placing messages in a bottle, helped by her father, particularly when the baby contracts diphtheria and could die without a doctor’s intervention.  Unbelievably, one of the messages gets through, with Andrew sailing through an epic storm to rescue Ruth and their baby, which remains to this day one of the better ocean storm scenes ever filmed, filled with dramatic intensity, creating a life or death urgency.  Finally forced to capitulate, even Peter agrees to be moved off the island, petitioning the government for aid in a monumental Noah’s ark style transport, where everybody and everything is moved off the island, leaving it deserted and undisturbed.  Even how that is depicted is a moving finale and a fitting climax.         

Whitney

Dee Dee Warwick (left) and a young Whitney Houston

 

Whitney in the studio singing with her mother, Cissy Houston

 

Whitney with her parents and two brothers

 

Whitney with her mother and father

 

Whitney with Robyn Crawford and her two brothers

 

Whitney with her mother and Dionne Warwick (right)

 

Daddy's girl

 

Bobby Brown

 

Mary Jones, Whitney's aunt and personal assistant

 

Clive Owens, president of Arista Records

 

singing the national anthem at the Super Bowl

 

meeting Nelson Mandela in South Africa

 

Whitney's home in New Jersey

 

WHITNEY                 B+                  

USA  Great Britain  (120 mi)  2018  d:  Kevin Macdonald           Official site

A curious documentary that probes under the surface, premiering at Cannes, very much in the same vein as Asif Kapadia’s Amy (2015), the film was commissioned and basically authorized by Whitney Houston’s estate, whose executor is the late singer’s sister-in-law, Pat Houston, one of the producers on the film, where Scottish director Kevin Macdonald obtained family access to photos and archival material, also interviews with family members and close associates, and while a few were forthcoming, some to a surprising degree, but most others refused to offer anything but the standard family line, something they’ve been doing their entire lives, never deviating from the script, making this a more difficult challenge than it might seem.  The daughter to gospel and soul singer Cissy Houston, who formed the Drinkard Singers, the Gospelaires, and later the Sweet Inspirations, whose career as a back-up singer to Aretha Franklin and Elvis Presley is legendary, where Dionne and Dee Dee Warwick are Cissy’s nieces and opera diva Leontyne Price is her cousin, but she also worked as the musical director of their Newark, New Jersey church, where Whitney sang as a child, working closely with her to prepare her for a singing career.  Among the first notes we hear come from a music video, but with all the instrumentation stripped away, allowing viewers to hear the pure and unadulterated sounds of Whitney’s singing voice.  Today you can hear the booming sounds of Whitney Houston - I Wanna Dance With Somebody - YouTube (5:14) echoing throughout giant sports arenas, like baseball, football, basketball, or even hockey games, as the upbeat vibe so perfectly fits the need to entertain fans between plays, amping up the volume, fueling energy into the room, where it’s a mad rush of pure adrenaline.  While music is truly international, mixing music with sports is a particularly American touch, as the joyous music typifies what’s best about America, yet it’s also the music to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s first dance at their recent wedding, a song Markle refers to as her “happy song,” so the joy is spread around the world.  What’s perhaps notable early on is that Whitney did not respond well to her mother leaving and going on the road all the time, leaving her children in the hands of other family members for long periods of time, where Whitney, the only girl in a family of brothers, was picked on for having lighter skin, a problem unique to black communities plagued by the race issue, something that would follow Whitney throughout her career.  After the Newark riots in 1967 and in something of a protective measure, the family moved to a larger house in East Orange and Whitney was sent to an all-girls Catholic high school, where she met her best friend Robyn Crawford, described as the “sister she never had,” who would remain a lifelong confidante for the rest of her life.       

 

Whitney thrived singing in the church, and loved singing with freedom and abandon, but her mother, basically the architect of her musical style and career, was a tough taskmaster, making her repeat things over and over again until she got it right, with Whitney making a surprise appearance at the Sweetwater Club, a Manhattan New York night club replacing her mother, who feigned an illness, and was an instant success, immediately offered record deals, but Cissy refused as she was still in high school, but she did sing back-up jobs with her mother for Chaka Khan at age 15 and by seventeen was also doing modeling work, becoming the first black woman on the cover of Seventeen magazine.  But she was solely interested in a singing career, resulting in a bidding war for her services, eventually choosing Clive Owens from Arista Records to represent her, and within a year she made her television debut, singing a song from The Wiz, Whitney Houston's "Home" Live On The Merv Griffin Show 1985 ... (5:03) to a rousing  success, which led to her portrayal of a fresh new face with a bubbly image, almost like the innocence of a Disney character where the beautiful Siren-like princess finds fame and fortune by singing for others, thoroughly enchanting them, mysteriously making them melt in her hands.  Unlike anyone else in the industry, she had a voice that was set apart from the others, with a three octave range, effortlessly wrapping herself around the words and content of each song, soulfully identifying so completely with what she was singing, breathing new life into every expression, where seeing her live was “an experience.”  Few have had the range and distinctive sound that she could produce, embracing and identifying with audiences, raising the artistic quality by so easily hitting and holding every note.  In a word she was brilliant, though her commercial appeal was heavily packaged, featuring that natural smile, her beauty, and an ability to have a good time on stage.  Her seven consecutive number one hits is still an unmatched feat in the music industry, and her cover of Dolly Parton’s “I Will Always Love You” WHITNEY HOUSTON - I WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU ( GRAMMY´S ... YouTube (5:30) from THE BODYGUARD (1992) soundtrack is still the all-time best-selling single by a female artist.  Hilariously, Saddam Hussein used an Arabic version as his campaign song when running for his final presidential term, at the time heard playing on the radio so relentlessly that one man living in tenement housing in the British Isles somewhere complained that his neighbor played it over and over again endlessly, driving him batty, complaining to the police, where the person in question eventually served 7 days in jail.  This serves as an example of the Whitney fever that existed around the world, where she was simply uber successful, bringing boatloads of money into the family, many going on tour with her, including Gary Garland (former DePaul basketball player) as a back-up singer, where two other brothers acted as bodyguards and road managers, but were also very open about fulfilling their roles of procuring drugs in every city they visited, something they had been doing since their teenage years.

Certainly one of the most eye-opening sequences described the friendly relationship between Whitney and Robyn Crawford, who was an acknowledged lesbian and considered trouble by the family, who quickly denounced her as a hanger-on and a nobody, but that is obviously a family cover up, as she was her most trusted friend after high school, perhaps the only one who always put Whitney’s needs above all else, working as her assistant, then her executive assistant, and finally her creative director, traveling around the world with her in charge of shows.  While it was alleged they were lovers, what’s more important is their friendship, as they were obviously a collaborating team that worked well together personally and professionally, also providing space for Whitney when she needed it, like a place to disappear to and just be herself, not having to be that professional image of herself, which is nearly impossible to live up to.  Ask Michael Jackson or Prince, or before them Jim Morrison or Janis Joplin, or countless others in the music biz that lost their lives tragically early.  When you have all the money in the world and literally no obstacles, no one telling you no, temptations are lurking everywhere.  Crawford provided stability when Whitney’s parents were breaking up, as Cissy was allegedly having an affair with the pastor, which is more than her father John Houston could stand, having his own family’s phone tapped to track his wife’s movements, though he was just as guilty of his own infidelity.  He was an important Newark city official in an era post 1967 riots with whites leaving the city in droves, ushering in black officials for the first time to run the city, but it was a corrupt administration, people were on the take, including John who became a power broker authorizing the construction of new buildings.  According to his children’s recollections, like The Godfather, you were expected to kiss his gold ring.  Now deceased, his life is a bit clouded in ambiguity, though he maintained contact with his daughter’s career, becoming her manager at one point, then sued her for $100 million dollars when she signed with someone else, still wanting a piece of her profits.  This move on his part effectively ended their relationship, never speaking to him afterwards.  One other revelation was how Whitney was initially perceived by the black community, perceived as too gay, or too white, with the Reverend Al Sharpton leading a boycott against her for appealing to a white audience, calling her “White-ney.”  She was actually booed at the Soul Train Awards, which hurt her deeply, as it’s impossible to conceive Whitney Houston as anything but black in the way she sings, among the first black artists to be featured on what was otherwise an all-white MTV, Whitney Houston-How Will I Know (Live on MTV 1986) - YouTube (3:55) or Whitney Houston - All The Man That I Need (Live) - YouTube (6:34) in 1991 from her Welcome Home Heroes concert to honor the troops, obviously taking us back to church with that proud black tradition.  Having to defend herself on TV chat shows didn’t seem to have any impact.  What caught her eye, however, was the instant appeal of another Soul Train performer, Bobby Brown, which seemed to solve all her problems, as he was black enough, and straight.  After a three-year courtship they were married.          

While Whitney seems genuinely happy at first, over time the influence of her husband becomes brooding and more imposing, especially when her earnings simply go through the roof, all but leaving him in the dust as a performing artist, which seems to deflate his image of a man, so he misbehaves as a way of getting attention.  The film disproves any thought that he may have introduced Whitney to drugs, as that came from her own brothers at age 16, who call Bobby Brown a lightweight in terms of drug use.  So quite a few things are going on behind the scenes, as her husband and father genuinely detest the influence of Robyn Crawford, yet it turns out their own influence is much more damaging, eventually pushing Crawford out altogether, who felt Brown’s philandering and self-destructive influence on Whitney’s career would have a devastating influence, as they simply retreated for days and weeks on end behind hotel room doors, each fighting their own demons, struggling with addiction issues, which the family continued to deny, never acknowledging any real or profound impact, despite Whitney’s public attempts to seek treatment, almost always leaving prematurely, with her husband apparently threatened by her sobriety, eventually falling back into the same habits.  Drugs destroyed both her voice and her career, so it’s telling that two of the closest to Whitney, her mother and her husband, wouldn’t even discuss drug use before the camera, with Brown astonishingly claiming it had nothing to do with her death.  As people don’t normally drown in hotel bathtubs, viewers will find him both delusional and detestable.  Much more forthcoming is Mary Jones, Whitney’s aunt and personal assistant, the one who discovered Whitney dead in a Beverly Hilton bathtub at age 48, who heartbreakingly witnessed a 14-year marriage fall apart and end in divorce, with both fatally inadequate to raise a child, as their daughter, Bobbi Kristina Brown, died at age 22 in a death identical to her mother.  It was Mary Jones, along with one of Whitney’s brothers, Gary Garland, who insinuated sexual abuse, as Garland was himself abused as a child around age 8 or 9, naming his cousin Dee Dee Warwick (now deceased, but who would have been in her late 20’s), suggesting she abused Whitney as well, particularly when her mother was away for long periods of time and the children were left in her care.  What is intimated here is that Whitney wasn’t able to come to terms with her sexuality, and be open about it, because of the horror of that abuse.  This discovery comes late in the film and was discovered near the end of the director’s shoot, where the family finds it a detestable admission in the film, like what good does that do now?  Certainly one of the more uncomfortable aspects of the film is the unspoken realization of how much the family contributed to Whitney’s demise, as they repeatedly covered up for her, always singing her praises, but leaving out the darker side with the long-lasting scars.  Perhaps most telling is Macdonald’s interview with a tearful Lynn Volkman, Whitney’s publicist, who had been with her since the start of her career.  “I’ve spent 25 years lying about Whitney, so it’s very difficult for me to get into the other gear of actually trying to say what is truthful…I now feel so guilty.  I thought I was helping her.  I was doing what was required of me.  But actually, I was enabling the addiction, and enabling all this bad behavior by doing that.  Why did I do that?”  Of course, that’s a question none of us can answer, offering instead a devastatingly poignant and emotionally involving film that explores the highs and lows in equal measure, filled with touching moments throughout, offering a special glimpse of this mega-star performer who lost a personal struggle with her own demons.