Bright Star Review

Director: Jane Campion Screenplay: Jane Campion Cast: Abbie Cornish, Ben Whishaw, Paul Schneider, Kerry Fox Time: 119min 

Genre:
Romance/Drama

Summary Review:
Bright Star is a love story infused with natural beauty that feels like it could have been shorter.

 

Synopsis:
You will not enjoy Bright Star unless you have a heart sympathetic to beauty, poetry and soppy, lovesick youth. If you yourself are happily in love, you will probably end up loving this film – even more so if you see it with your loved one alongside you.

Bright Star tells of the great love between the poet John Keats and the young Fanny Brawne. Although he saw little success during his lifetime, Keats is now recognised as one of the greatest and most influential of the Romantic poets. His life was cut tragically short by illness at the age of 24, before he and Miss Brawne could marry.

Abbie Cornish, who plays Fanny, is an organically beautiful woman and a skilled actress, while Ben Whishaw portrays Keats as the archetypal emo poet, with his pantaloons serving as the 19th Century answer to skinny jeans.

Bright Star's cinematography is fantastic, showcasing the best of the English countryside in every season. Keats's poetry runs like a silver thread through the entire film, connecting the passionate performances that leave you feeling slightly nauseous at such excess of emotion.