Edywn Collins has been making music for over three decades. After forming Orange Juice in 1979 they enjoyed several years of success and even managed to break the UK top ten with Rip it Up. The Glaswegian band split in ’85 but there influence on other musicians can still be seen today. Collins himself went on to have a prolific solo career with ‘A Girl Like You’ becoming a worldwide hit.
In 2005 he mentioned feeling ill on BBC 6Music, and two days later the Scot suffered a major cerebral haemorrhage. After suffering a second haemorrhage he was operated on and a lengthy programme of neurological rehabilitation followed. James Hall and Edward Lovelace’s film is as much a work of visual poetry as a documentary in which Collins meditates on his past, present and future. The title, The Possibilities are Endless, is one of only four phrases he said repeatedly after the operation.
Another of these ‘phrases’ was Grace Maxwell, his wife, and what’s apparent throughout is the love the pair have for each other. The first half of The Possibilities are Endless is narrated by Collins, discussing his jumbled mind following the haemorrhage, as well as his life. It gives it a poetic aesthetic which is almost hallucinatory in feel. There’s archive footage from the past and discussions with the pair as we witness their present. The Possibilities are Endless is a powerful and beautiful gem which focusses on an extraordinary man who is full of love and hope.
The Possibilities Are Endless is released on DVD by Pulse Films on December 1.
