MAYBURY AND KEIRA REUNITED

Okay, purists would prefer a photo of Dylan Thomas here, and impurists one of Keira and Sienna who play the leads.

In time all may get their wish. The film is only shooting now and better snaps will follow.

But don't hold your breath for the vaunted lesbian kiss. For now at least I believe that the script is concerned with much more ethereal matters. Dylan would be proud.

For now there is little to enjoy bar some hard facts. Primarily that Director John Maybury, who made Francis Bacon biopic Love Is The Devil, is currently finessing his way through another long title, The Edge of Love (aka The Best Time of Our Lives). This one features a poet rather than a painter, Dylan Thomas, embodied by Matthew Rhys, and his two favourite women, Vera Killick and Caitlin Thomas, played by Keira Knightley and Sienna Miller respectively.

It is the usual distressing mix of love NOT running smoothly. That is, it is driven by broken promises, passion, betrayal, the shadow of war and the constant threat of imminent death.

Thomas's own Wales is playing itself and will surely do a fine job. The rest of the time, Rhys and the girls will have to make do with a variety of locations in London and, a world unto itself, Pinewood Studios.

Maybury, who worked with Knightley on The Jacket, says: "This is a modern take on the extraordinary life of Dylan Thomas. By no means a biopic in the traditional vein, it explores the collision of the bohemian underworld of war-torn London, and the intimate complexities of two young couples whose lives and loves become dangerously intertwined."

The screenplay is by Knightley's mother, Sharman MacDonald, who famously could not find the finance for the film until - flash thought - "Why not have Keira in it?"