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Released 6th November 2009
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Secret love affairs set in another period have a special place in the British public’s heart, and Jane Campion’s latest ballad to Keats, Bright Star, is an exquisite example of the arousing, poetic and ultimately harrowing extremes of forbidden love in an age of social restrictions. Campion beautifully crafts another delicate tale, long after her laudable 1993 film, The Piano, which is set to thrill fans of romantic period drama.
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The primary reason for Bright Star’s sensitivity and passion is the performance from a greatly admired and talented Ben Whishaw as 19th century poet John Keats. Whishaw is simply magnetic and adorably divine as he pours emotion and suffering into every minute that he is on screen. The actor who is equally creative and sympathetic in real-life is born to play such a role, and his casting cannot be faulted here.
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Abbie Cornish as his love and muse, Fanny Brawne, ultimately grows on you in the role as the story progresses, and as her fascination and near obsession with Keats develops into a tragic love story, ended in the cruellest of ways. Cornish gives a defiant and confident performance worthy of any literary heroine in conflict with the social etiquette of the time - as well as her true feelings, so much so that the tender moments between Keats and Brawne are so private that watching seems almost intrusive and voyeuristic at times. Indeed, without the amusingly brash intrusions of the deviant Charles Armitage Brown, delightfully played by Paul Schneider, who tries to obstruct the relationship for personal gain, the viewer would feel almost uncomfortable in young love’s presence.
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The poetry compliments the performances and vice versa, opening up new audiences to the power of the written word. Bringing this to cinematic attention is no small feat. It is one that Campion ought to be proud of in this intensely alluring and utterly touching film, both in the spoken word and the sumptuous cinematography that perfectly sets the scene for love to blossom and wilt. Bright Star is another shining example of the remarkable talents of the New Zealand film-maker who has an incredibly sensuous eye for beauty, even in the midst of adversity.
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By Lisa Keddie
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Synopsis
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London 1818: a secret love affair begins between 23 year-old English poet, John Keats (Whishaw), and the girl next door, Fanny Brawne (Cornish), an outspoken student of high fashion. This unlikely pair begin at odds, he thinking her a stylish minx, while she was unimpressed not only by his poetry but also by literature in general.
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However, when Fanny heard that Keats was nursing his seriously ill younger brother, her efforts to help touched Keats and when she asked him to teach her about poetry he agreed. The poetry soon became a romantic remedy that worked not only to sort their differences, but also to fuel an impassioned love affair.
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When Fanny’s alarmed mother and Keats’ best friend finally awoke to their attachment, the relationship had an unstoppable momentum. Intensely and helplessly absorbed in each other, the young lovers were swept deeply into powerful new sensations, “I have the feeling as if we’re dissolving,” Keats wrote to her. Together they rode a wave of romantic obsession that only deepened as their troubles mounted.
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When Keats fell ill a year later, the two young lovers faced no marriage but separation. In Keats’ own poignant words, “forever panting and forever young.”
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Film Facts
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Official site: http://www.brightstarthemovie.co.uk/
UK Release Date: 6th November 2009
Director: Jane Campion
Writer: Jane Campion
Cast: Ben Whishaw (‘John Keats’), Abbie Cornish (‘Frances ‘Fanny’ Brawne’), Paul Schneider (‘Charles Armitage Brown’), Kerry Fox (‘Mrs Brawne’), Thomas Sangster (‘Samuel Brawne’)
Distributor: Warner Bros/Pathe
Certificate: PG
Run-time: 119 mins
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Video on Real.com
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Trailer:
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