Director/writer: Jane Campion | Rated: PG | Review date: 14-Feb-2010 – Happy Valentine’s Day!

Jane Campion’s Bright Star is the biopic following John Keats and his romance with Fanny Brawne during the last years of his life. Ben Whishaw plays Keats, the underrated and struggling poet. Fanny Brawne, played by Abbie Cornish, is the girl next door and aspiring fashion designer who’s at first rather unimpressed with poetry to say the least. Soon enough though, the two become drawn to one another and an exciting love affair begins.

Campion does a great job capturing the romanticism of 19th century London. The costume and set designs are superb and elegant, well deserving of the Academy Award nomination for the former. The dialogue was sophisticated and poetic, which at times was unrealistic but beautiful and fitting nonetheless. The chemistry between the two leads was picture perfect, and when they shared the screen my eyes were stuck to them.

The story is all about the romance and feelings between the two main characters. We see them at their happiest when they’re together, and their distress when they’re apart. Much focus is placed on Fanny and how she deals with being away from Keats, especially when he starts to fall ill. Her emotions are displayed with much realism as we see every bit of her obsessive and lovesick episodes. To the non-romantic these scenes might come off as overly sappy and dramatic, but anyone who’s ever fallen head over heals in love will relate to them on some level.

What I love most about this story is that it really happened. We constantly get Hollywood love stories fed to us, but here we have a classic romantic tale from real lives. Sure, this film is dramatized and we may not know every little detail of the real lives of our characters, but the basis for the story is relatively accurate. Anyone who’s been in love knows how the feelings one experiences during can take us over. Bright Star does a great job displaying those feelings in great and fantastical way.

This film is a great period piece for the hopeless romantic and couples alike. It is well executed across the board, including an excellent supporting cast. For me the movie was slightly long and drawn out during certain parts, but even so it was still beautiful to watch. The movie is all about love, and that’s just what it delivers. Whether you’re a fan of Keats’ work, or just enjoy a good romance, Bright Star is one to look out for.

Official site | IMDb/trailers

Share