Bright Star 2009

After Beau Brummell, it’s hard to go wrong — and Bright Star doesn’t.

SPOILER WARNING

This 119-minute film, directed by Jane Campion, debuted at Cannes in May and was received with great praise. Unfortunately, it’s not playing in big theatres across the country, though it is likely infinitely better than half the things out there right now. This film is has raised the bar for costume dramas, though it is more along the lines of a visual poem, than the standard period flick.

The first thing one notices is the beautiful score (which is thankfully available for purchase). Music can redeem or condemn a mediocre film, and though Bright Star is hardly mediocre, rarely does a score compliment the tone of a film so harmoniously. The cello pieces are simply breathtaking.

I went into the movie with a standard high-school education on John Keats’s works and nebulous remembrance of what I had read in previous years about him; the name of his beloved was Fanny Brawne and he died at age 25 from tuberculosis — and something about Hampstead Heath. But no prior knowledge of Keats is necessary to appreciate this film, and I would almost say those who know nothing will have a more intoxicating experience. I am anxious to discover more about the character Mr. Brown, a man who was obviously significant figure in the young poet’s life, yet of whom I remember reading nothing. Of course, this film is as much Fanny Brawne’s story as it is Keats’s, and watching this somewhat unknown woman develop is enthralling.

The acting by both Ben Whishaw and Abbie Cornish is spectacular. Whishaw has been criticized for being “flimsy”, or something to that effect, but I believe his ability to make Keats’s so beautifully human has simply been misinterpreted — all of the actors have mastered the Art of Humanity. Bright Star is a dynamic movie, dominated by neither comedy nor drama nor tragedy as some historical films are, but infusing all of these into an emotionally pure glimpse of the true lives of real people, separated from us by years alone. As I watched Fanny crawl onto her bed and sit cross-legged reading, I was hit by the realization that I had been blinded; costume dramas, for all their brilliance and beauty, had unconsciously elevated these people in my mind to a point of near sublimity — Bright Star brings them softly down again. The interactions between the characters are complicated and sometimes make little sense, but that’s life, is it not?

The idea that Fanny Brawn was an avid costumer surprised me. The movie makes it clear that she lived solidly in the middle class, but I suppose with decent fabrics, a hand for sewing, and an eye for design, one can look quite fashionable in entirely handmade clothes. Even today it is amazing what some people can do with old jeans and wares from Goodwill. Save for the pink ruffled thing she wears in the rain scene, Fanny looks beautiful in everything outfit and still retains, quite appropriately, that girl-next-door quality.

Perhaps that is why this movie is so touching. It’s the classic next-door-neighbor romance, and it’s all true!

There’s not a dull moment in Bright Star — and for a subject matter about poems and love, it takes a true artist to pull that off in a two-hour production. Jane Campion harmoniously blends breath-taking visuals, historical details, Keats’s stunning poetry, and honest sentiment into a dream of a film. I give it 5 out of 5 stars.

Check out these Reviews:

The Independent: “Bright Star”

Telegraph: “Bright Star, review”

The Times: “Bright Star”

New York Times: “Bright Star”

~ by Lady Ashley on November 14, 2009.