Released in 2003, Focus Films' film, Sylvia, stars Gwyneth Paltrow as Sylvia Plath and Daniel Craig as Ted Hughes.

The film begins with Sylvia and Ted's first encounter in 1956 and ends with Sylvia's suicide in 1963. A more appropriate name for the film might have been "Sylvia and Ted." Although the movie refers back to her past, the bulk of the film depicts her and Ted's troubled relationship due to his infidelity and her mental illness. Her poetic success takes a back seat in the film to her jealous outbursts and continuous melancholy.

The Plath depicted in the film seems to lack the energy and power evident in her poetry. One cannot picture this version of Plath "eat[ing] men like air." You're more likely to find her mulling about in utter passivity and depression. The film's portrayal of her life after her marriage to Ted Hughes implies that her suicide was a result of her adulterous husband. This demonization of Hughes might be believable if it weren't for Plath's previous suicide attempts.

Plath is shown writing on her typewriter, and her poetry is read aloud for the audience to experience. However, it is obvious that her marriage and suicide are the reasons for the film industries' interest in her life. The film begins with lines from Plath's poem, "Lady Lazarus": "Dying is an art like everything else./I do it exceptionally well." This line sets up Plath's suicide as the main achievement of her life.

Plath's daughter, Frieda Hughes, protested the film and limited the amount of her mother's poetry allowed in the film. In Hughes' poem, "My Mother," she berates the film industry for profiting off her mother's suicide. A few of the 46 lines of her protest poem reads:

"They think I should give them my mother's words
To fill the mouth of their monster
Their Sylvia Suicide Doll."

Although Plath's failed marriage and suicide are undeniably necessary to any film adaptation of her life, this film portrayal of the poet hurries to the sensation of her tragic death without due treatment of her poetic genius. Plath comes off looking like another sad and jealous housewife. In the film, the only thing that differentiates her from any other depressed female is her romanticized death.

Interview with the Director
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