webber-george I just recently watched this film for the first time and was impressed but the film, it was pretty good. The acting was faultless and I must say there was a stand out performance by Abby Cornish. The cinematography was equally of a high standard, there are several scenes where the lighting and atmosphere really help you feel part of the story. I also should give kudos to the costume department, their choices were perfect. Looking at the film itself I should say its a very well told romantic tale the story between Fanny and Keats could so easily have become a more sentimental one. But through a natural dialogue between characters a little bit of humour and good control over the story line Campion has managed to make a really good film. You can feel the emotions coming across and take the emotional journey with the characters throughout. Its just a really nice film.

efaldk-349-274444 For anyone who has studied English literature, the name John Keats is well known. He is one of the finest and most celebrated of the romantic poets from the beginning of the 19th century, and besides the fact that he wrote he wrote brilliant poetry, his personal biography personifies most of the important features of the romantic age: The poor poet who devotes his life to art, but is not appreciated by the critics or the public until after his death. A passionate love affair that cannot lead to marriage, because he is unable to support a family. Finally his death at a young age (25) of tuberculosis - the "romantic disease".The film takes place over a period of three years. The main theme of the film is the passionate love story between John Keats and Fanny Brawne. When they first meet Keats is 22 and Fanny is 17. Keats has moved into in a cottage near the Brawn family with his mentor and friend Mr. Brown. Their love develops slowly, because Keats is painfully aware that he is not a suitable match for a young girl of a respectable middle class family, and so is Fanny's mother. Fanny is a cheerful girl who likes to dance and sew fine dresses, and Keat's poetry does not immediately appeal to her. Keats moves back and forth from the cottage and Fanny, but being apart only makes their feelings stronger. They write passionate love letters to each other, and when they meet again, they cannot hide their feelings, and decide to get engaged. Shortly afterwards Keats falls ill with tuberculosis, and is advised to move to the warmer climate of Italy. Keats dies a few months later in Rome.Jane Campion is an excellent film director and besides "The Piano" from 1993, "Bright Star" is her best film so far. Her biggest achievement is the visual beauty, and the dreamlike quality of the film which matches Keats' poetry perfectly, but it is also a very modern film with people of flesh and blood, who share passionate kisses and warm embraces.

johnnyboyz After the grot, grime, filth and general unpleasantness of 2003's In the Cut comes the lavish, much more colourful and far easier-on-the-eye Jane Campion piece about two people coming together and forging a relationship. Gone is the dank, Hellish and greyed out locale of contemporary New York City and in its place arrives 19th century Hampstead, in England; a zone peppered with fields, rife with both tranquillity as well as a certain kind of beauty, and often abound with greens and yellows and purples. Away from the smut and corruption of her last film comes the piece about two people poised at respective stages in their lives coming together and lightly bonding - the film covers two people of a younger and more rawer disposition than that of In the Cut; ironic then, that the film would be a rawer and more involving experience as a result.The film will begin with some quilt-work, stitching and sewing and whatnot; with cuts gradually bringing us away from said activity, the person engaging in it and the building within which they were based in order to reveal a farm-like locale and a distant London skyline. Such an opening encapsulates the body of the film; that is to say a pulling away of something so intrinsic, or precise, in nature to reveal a wider picture of something – encapsulated in the film's going on to explore an intrinsic true-to-history tale of poet John Keats' tryst with a certain Fanny Brawne. Abbie Cornish is the one playing Brawne, while Ben Whishaw adopts the role of John Keats. Cornish does superbly, adding to the long list of Campion heroines that include Holy Smoke's Kate Winslet; The Piano's Holly Hunter and the aforementioned In the Cut's Meg Ryan; women getting too involved with men whom are initially perceived as their binary opposites and often getting entangled for the worse. It is she whom we observe stitching during the opening and through her extensive contacts of family and friends, a travelling to Keats' home is the order of the initial exchanges.Once there, Brawne appears opinionated and dares to challenge the far cockier and more confident of the household in additional poet Charles Brown (Schneider) on his work – as much as Brown is what he is, Keats appears shy and retiring through the fact he does not initially show at the gathering at all. In spite of living with Brown and sharing his career field, Keats is a thin and softly spoken fellow; appearing weak in his immediate appearance and lacking the facial hair his counterpart has. It is somewhat counter-balanced to that of Brown and his larger, more pompous disposition, which sees him strike us as rather outlandish and less caring. Shooting down Brown's jibes and petty comments, she goes so far as to denounce whatever little admiration for poetry she already had in front of most people, by which time Keats has appeared. It is additionally revealed his brother is suffering from a serious illness; his parents recently died and that he himself is struggling within his field with exposure and profit. But Keats is still somewhat of an entertainer, his stories and speech seeing most warm to him until the time comes to nail a spontaneous poem after dinner, upon which he falters.Through meeting Keats, Brawne purchases one of his books; this initial exposure to poetry beginning a change in her life which will go on to additionally affect that of Wishaw's character - her prejudices slowly dissipating to warmly lit shots of her lying flat on her back engaging with what this man has written. The two come to formulate more of a bond as the crux of the film progresses, their relationship delicate and often feeling pleasantly poised; a far cry from the franker and more brash nature of the bond between the two leads in In the Cut – so much so, that when Brown sends Fanny a valentine's card as she begins to get to know Keats a little more, it is an explosion of sorts within the realm Brawne and Keats currently occupy. Campion constructs these exchanges to a tee; there are no fast talking exchanges running on hip-dialogue whilst unfolding in a modern day locale rife with large amounts of snow on the ground, these natural and really well performed scenes resonating as they lyrically progress from interaction to interaction.Peppering their relationship is a stark, sociological ethic acting as a really tragically affecting over-tune which persistently threatens to destroy what they have. This is more broadly linked to an apparent agreement both parties should be privy to entering, should they ever consider marriage. Principally, and it's at this point the norms of the era within which the film is set make themselves painfully known thus instilling a greater sense of tragedy, it would be frowned up should the female participant of the marriage be relied upon for income above that of the male. Since Keats struggles within a highly specialist field of artistic and creative integrity, he cannot be relied upon for income to fund the state of matrimony; Campion going on to send up such a belief a wily way, challenging the ideological patriarchy and creating a story leading only to destruction and trauma eased little by the fact two people whom loved one another a great deal were not able to come together out of what are perceived to be false-propositions. It is a notion epitomised in Cornish's pained response to her peers, when she informs them that "You taught me of love, not of love for a specific class or rich person." Bright Star is a thoroughly engaging and really rather mature love story one is quite easily caught up in, and is near enough a considerable cut above most films of its year.

marspeach I loved, loved, LOVED this movie! Similar to The Young Victoria, don't expect anything like a biopic on Keats. Though it's mostly historically accurate, as far as I know, it's a romance above all else. And it is done very well. The whole movie has a very quiet feel- beautiful cinematography that uses a lot of natural light (it reminds me a lot of the 1995 Persuasion in its realistic look), exquisite costumes, and brilliant acting. Even the music, while beautiful, is quiet. There are sensual undertones throughout, but the romance, like the movie itself, is very restrained. The heroine is usually "chaperoned" by her younger siblings (her sister, Toots, is beyond adorable!), and the pair cannot marry due to poverty and then Keats' illness. Keats' friend and roommate, the greasy Mr. Brown, also tries to prevent their romance, but this really seems to only encourage them! The ending is tragic (Keats died of consumption at age 25) but the movie is just gorgeous.The movie is worth watching for the cinematography alone. Everything is understated and subtle, and yet left a bigger impression on me than anything on a grander scale ever has.By far my favorite thing about this movie was the costumes! It's set in the Regency, which is always a plus (for me at least. I love the fashions from that period). The heroine, Fanny, is a seamstress and prides herself on her fashionable clothes, which she makes all herself. I loved that the clothes in this actually looked hand-stitched. Fanny's gowns in the beginning can be a bit over-the-top (bright colors, big hats and collars) but become more subdued throughout the course of the film. Most of her shoes are really cute too, take notice! Some of Toots' dresses use the same fabrics as Fanny's, which I thought was a nice touch.This movie is not for everyone. If you like a lot of action and that sort of thing, you'll probably hate it. I may get slightly upset if I hear that anyone hates the costumes, though!