The Edge of the World

Michael Powell’s first independent production, The Edge of the World, comes to Blu-ray in a new high definition presentation overseen and approved by Powell’s widow, award-winning editor Thelma Schoonmaker-Powell.

When the skipper of a tourist yacht (Niall MacGinnis), lands reluctantly on the remote shores of Hirta – the now-deserted Hebridean island of his birth – he is overwhelmed by memories from a time before its evacuation. A powerful story of love, rivalry and survival against the harsh elemental realities of island life and an ever-encroaching modernity.

• New high definition presentation overseen and approved by Michael Powell’s widow, award-winning editor Thelma Schoonmaker-Powell.
• Full feature commentary by Thelma Schoonmaker-Powell and Professor Ian Christie with extracts from Powell’s book about the making of the film, 200,000 feet on Foula read by Daniel Day-Lewis.
• Return to the Edge of the World (Michael Powell, 1979, 24 min): Michael returns to Foula with cast and crew.
• Original trailer (2 min).
• Alternative scenes (1944, 9 min).
• Michael Powell’s Home Movies narrated by Thelma Schoonmaker-Powell (c.1955, 7 min).
• St Kilda — Britain’s Loneliest Isle (Topical Productions, 1923/1928, 16 min).
• Fully illustrated booklet with newly commissioned essay by Professor Ian Christie, reviews and notes on film.