Leyland
10-03-2009, 03:44 PM
I saw Jane Campion’s new film, Bright Star, at an early matinee yesterday and was so glad I did. I had expected a Merchant Ivory type film with the pretty costumes and scenery, but rather stilted character portrayals. I don’t seem to get emotionally involved with MI films, but I like looking at them.
I got emotionally involved with BS and then some. If you know John Keats’ life story, then you know what tragic outcomes to expect. I didn’t know much about him except for studying some of his poems in high school English classes. I’ve never been good at understanding the imagery of poetry or explicating them, so I haven’t been much of a fan of the Romantics. Some lines from some poems really stand out to me, but I guess I just have a true fiction addiction.
After watching BS, I can understand more of the socio-economic historic background of Keats’ generation of poets and artists. They were a critical and backstabbing lot! And yes, very sensitive. As the film develops the intense relationship between Keats and Fanny Brawne from 1818-1820, I felt as though I was watching a deeply gritty version of Pride & Prejudice. Terminal illness, happy picnics and dances, depression and loneliness, whimsical play, and obsessive love are clearly portrayed in Campion’s version of Keats’ and Brawne’s love affair. These scenes are all wonderfully filmed - inside and outside.
There were some moments of tenderness so immensely and quietly touching I just wanted to hold my breath. A couple of scenes displaying a grief that doesn’t seem possible to get any deeper did tear me up a bit. Ben Whishaw and Abbie Cornish portray the lovers extremely effectively.
I’d recommend seeing this one at the theatre!
I got emotionally involved with BS and then some. If you know John Keats’ life story, then you know what tragic outcomes to expect. I didn’t know much about him except for studying some of his poems in high school English classes. I’ve never been good at understanding the imagery of poetry or explicating them, so I haven’t been much of a fan of the Romantics. Some lines from some poems really stand out to me, but I guess I just have a true fiction addiction.
After watching BS, I can understand more of the socio-economic historic background of Keats’ generation of poets and artists. They were a critical and backstabbing lot! And yes, very sensitive. As the film develops the intense relationship between Keats and Fanny Brawne from 1818-1820, I felt as though I was watching a deeply gritty version of Pride & Prejudice. Terminal illness, happy picnics and dances, depression and loneliness, whimsical play, and obsessive love are clearly portrayed in Campion’s version of Keats’ and Brawne’s love affair. These scenes are all wonderfully filmed - inside and outside.
There were some moments of tenderness so immensely and quietly touching I just wanted to hold my breath. A couple of scenes displaying a grief that doesn’t seem possible to get any deeper did tear me up a bit. Ben Whishaw and Abbie Cornish portray the lovers extremely effectively.
I’d recommend seeing this one at the theatre!