Planned over six years and shot in four arduous months on a remote Shetland island, The Edge of the World was Michael Powell's first bid for independence as a film maker, as well as the forerunner of many mystical themes and daring techniques later to become familiar in his A Canterbury Tale, I Know Where I'm Going! and other classics.

Michael Powell's breakthrough film displays a respect for the resiliency of people who live on remote and unforgiving land, even as they face an inevitable change in their way of life. Shot on the magnificent island of Foula, the story dramatizes the debate over the future of a community losing many of its young citizens to better opportunities elsewhere. Powell and his nimble cameramen follow the characters along the island's magnificent shoreline, and up and down its sheer, immense cliffs. This is a primeval landscape, reflected in the mythic qualities of the story: two rivals, the woman between them, the feuding parents, the community as a kind of Greek chorus (the film's soundtrack has its own chorus, with the Glasgow Orpheus Choir performing traditional songs). Though not as celebrated as some of Powell's other films (The Red Shoes, A Matter of Life and Death, I Know Where I'm Going!), The Edge of the World deserves more attention for its solid storytelling skills and splendid use of one of the most breathtaking locales ever put on film.