The Possibilities Are Endless

“The possibilities are endless.” This was one of the few coherent things (alongside “yes,” “no” and “Grace Maxwell” – his wife’s name) musician Edwyn Collins could still say following two strokes in 2005. The film starts with a brief excerpt from a talk show when Collins – former front man of Orange Juice and successful as a solo artist with the worldwide hit – was still healthy. This is followed by flashes and spots, seemingly disjointed images accompanied by a faltering Collins in voice-over, explaining how he felt following the near-fatal brain hemorrhages. Parallel to Collins’s remarkable recovery, the words and images in the film gradually start to show greater cohesion and clarity. “He was very far away,” his wife and manager says in Helmsdale, Scotland, the place where the Collins family now lives and still works. Collins and Maxwell talk about their experiences with the strokes, what has changed and how they are coping. Their story is accompanied by excerpts of older and more recent concerts and the preparations for these, along with stunning footage of the Scottish landscape and scenes in which Collins’s son Will reenacts how his young father met his mother, demonstrating the depth of their union in an extremely moving way.