Valentine Pelka, born in 1956, is an English actor known for his role in Rowing with the Wind (1988), where he navigates the complex lives of poets during the Romantic era. His performance adds depth to the film's exploration of creativity and passion, reflecting the tumultuous spirit of its time. Pelka's work in this film positions him within the cult cinema landscape, highlighting the intersection of art and personal struggle that defines the genre.
Rowing with the Wind
In the summer of 1816, English poet Percy Shelley, his soon to be wife Mary Shelley (daughter of William Godwin and Mary Wollstonecraft), and Mary's stepsister and companion Claire Clairmont take a holiday with Lord Byron and his physician John William Polidori at a villa rented by Byron at Lake Leman, Switzerland. Byron challenges each of the friends to write a horror story, and Mary begins her novel, Frankenstein. She imagines the monster becoming real, and for the next six years, as tragedy befalls those around her, she believes the creature of her imagination is the cause. Meanwhile, Claire has Byron's baby, is estranged from him and barred from seeing her daughter. Byron and Percy continue their friendship, the one hedonistic, the other idealistic. The Shelleys move near Pisa.
