在这部天涯海角剧情/爱情/历史片中,历经四个月的野外艰苦拍摄，在海风吹拂的设得兰岛，迈克尔•鲍威尔在其第一部独立作品中大胆运用了创新的技术和实验，这些后来成为他职业生涯中为人熟知的标志。
《世界之缘》讲述了一个动人的故事，一个偏远岛屿及其岛上居民的传统和生活发生正在面临快速工业化世界的威胁。为了解决岛上的居民是否应该放弃当地生计移民岛内地去上的争论，两个儿时的朋友，沿袭着古老的传统，登上了岛上最高的悬崖。结果破坏了岛上的和平，并造成两个部族的分裂。
BFI国家档案馆在1990年对其进行了修复，2004年发行的DVD版对其画面和声音进行了进一步修复。《世界之缘》得到众多导演的喜爱，其中包括马丁•斯科塞斯。
A trio wanders the cliffs of an Outer Hebridean island and encounters a gravestone at the edge of a precipice; it reads, "Peter Manson ... gone over." One man in the trio knows the story of the gravestone and tells it to the others... It is ten years earlier, and the way of life on the island is dying; steam trawlers from the mainland threaten its survival as a fishing port. Peter Manson, one of the community's leaders, resists evacuating to the mainland, though his son Robbie is about to leave the island himself. Meanwhile, Robbie's twin sister plans to marry his best friend, Andrew Gray. Andrew and Robbie argue over evacuation and decide to settle the matter by racing to the top of a cliff. Ruth is terrified: she may lose them both. The race ends in tragedy, which tears apart the families of Manson and Gray. Times passes and Ruth reveals she is pregnant with an illegitimate child. This promises to bring the two families back together, but not before desperation hits the islanders. ...
