Cinema Nova, 7/1/2010
Stand back, everyone, I am about to gush.
Jane Campion (The Piano) is a great director. Even if you don’t like the subject matter of Bright Star (and a period romance about a Romantic poet will not appeal to everybody) if I hear you saying she doesn’t know her craft I’ll send Big Tony around to punch you in the nose.
Bright Star is about John Keats (played by Ben Wishaw, Perfume) and the few years between publishing his first poem book and dying. It’s also when he falls in love with his neighbour Fanny Brawne (a spectacular Abbie Cornish, Candy, Somersault). Campion deftly creates a naturalistic tone, gives us example after example of beautiful imagery and extracts spectacular performances from her actors (both the leads and a very solid support cast) to create a wonderfully compelling mood. (I told you I would gush.)
While the film is visually and emotionally stunning, the narrative is on the slight side. It’s hard to get a handle on some basics of the story, like the age of the protagonist or the passage of time. If you just luxuriate in it, though, as Keats says you should experience a poem, then the whole thing is terrifically satisfying.
