Although his poetry was little appreciated at the time, John Keats is now considered to be one of the supreme Romantic poets of the nineteenth century. The line from his poem Ode on a Grecian Urn-- "beauty is truth, truth beauty, -- that is all ye know on earth, and all ye need to know" is one of the most quoted passages in the English language and no student can escape high school without encountering his exquisite Ode to a Nightingale. One of only a small number of films that have dealt with the lives of poets, Bright Star, Jane Campion's first film since 2003, revolves around the final years of John Keats (Ben Whishaw) who died of tuberculosis at the age of 25 and his love affair with eighteen-year-old seamstress Fanny Brawne (Abbie Cornish).
Set in 1818 in Hempstead Village in North London, the twenty-three year old Keats and his friend and writing partner Charles Armitage Brown (Paul Schneider) live next door to Fanny, her widowed mother (Kerry Fox), younger brother Samuel (Thomas Brodie-Sangster), and adorable sister Toots (Edie Martin) who always accompanies Fanny on her walks. Fanny is a dressmaker who makes her own clothes and is respected for her talent as a fashion designer. She is also bright and personable, never lacking for an escort at the local dances. Jealous of Fanny's growing friendship with the poet, the abrasive Brown tries to keep her away so that his friend can concentrate on his writing but she handles him with considerable wit and their repartee is one of the highlights of the film.
Drawn closer to Keats when his brother Tom takes ill with tuberculosis, Fanny is more than eager to understand Keats' poetry but finds it a strain. She asks for lessons and John is willing to comply but tells her that appreciation of poetry must come from the heart. Their relationship grows but suffers as well because of the poet's lack of material success which he is constantly bemoaning and because Fanny is afraid to be too aggressive, fearful of the whispering of neighbors. When John leaves town, Fanny waits by the door each day for a letter as her relationship with the young poet has become the most important thing in her life.
When Keats becomes ill with the same illness that claimed his mother and brother, the lovers are continually being brought together and then torn apart and an immense barrier grows between them. Though older than the character by ten years, Cornish does a good job of portraying one of Campion's more strong-willed and determined women. Whishaw's performance, on the other hand, never comes alive and never conveys the type of deeply sensitive character normally associated with a poet.
While some of Keats' more well-known poems are read aloud, there is little insight into the creative process or what makes him what he is as a creative artist. Though Bright Star is handled with delicacy and restraint, the film lacks inspiration and a story that could have been truly sublime is merely full of pathos. I'm afraid that instead of feeling moved to go out and read more Keats poetry, by the end of Bright Star, "my heart ached and a drowsy numbness pained. My sense as though of hemlock I had drunk or emptied some dull opiate to the drains"
Set in 1818 in Hempstead Village in North London, the twenty-three year old Keats and his friend and writing partner Charles Armitage Brown (Paul Schneider) live next door to Fanny, her widowed mother (Kerry Fox), younger brother Samuel (Thomas Brodie-Sangster), and adorable sister Toots (Edie Martin) who always accompanies Fanny on her walks. Fanny is a dressmaker who makes her own clothes and is respected for her talent as a fashion designer. She is also bright and personable, never lacking for an escort at the local dances. Jealous of Fanny's growing friendship with the poet, the abrasive Brown tries to keep her away so that his friend can concentrate on his writing but she handles him with considerable wit and their repartee is one of the highlights of the film.
Drawn closer to Keats when his brother Tom takes ill with tuberculosis, Fanny is more than eager to understand Keats' poetry but finds it a strain. She asks for lessons and John is willing to comply but tells her that appreciation of poetry must come from the heart. Their relationship grows but suffers as well because of the poet's lack of material success which he is constantly bemoaning and because Fanny is afraid to be too aggressive, fearful of the whispering of neighbors. When John leaves town, Fanny waits by the door each day for a letter as her relationship with the young poet has become the most important thing in her life.
When Keats becomes ill with the same illness that claimed his mother and brother, the lovers are continually being brought together and then torn apart and an immense barrier grows between them. Though older than the character by ten years, Cornish does a good job of portraying one of Campion's more strong-willed and determined women. Whishaw's performance, on the other hand, never comes alive and never conveys the type of deeply sensitive character normally associated with a poet.
While some of Keats' more well-known poems are read aloud, there is little insight into the creative process or what makes him what he is as a creative artist. Though Bright Star is handled with delicacy and restraint, the film lacks inspiration and a story that could have been truly sublime is merely full of pathos. I'm afraid that instead of feeling moved to go out and read more Keats poetry, by the end of Bright Star, "my heart ached and a drowsy numbness pained. My sense as though of hemlock I had drunk or emptied some dull opiate to the drains"