A gorgeous reminder of Jane Campion’s talent, Bright Star remains swooningly beautiful
“Poetry soothes and emboldens the soul to accept mystery”
Jane Campion’s The Piano took my breath away as a teenager and still ranks amongst my top films ever, but her output since then has been something of a mixed bag which hasn’t always appealed. But her 2009 film Bright Star, detailing the last three years of John Keats’ life and his deeply emotional relationship with Fanny Brawne, comes extremely close to recapturing the bruisingly emotive power of her Oscar-winning masterpiece.
Campion’s direction returns to the intensely beautiful swells of great feeling that characterise the relationships she loves to portray and it is hugely successful here. The film is shot through with stunning imagery – the countless fields of flowers (the bluebells are my favourite) and the billowing curtains in the bedroom make for scenes of visual splendour. Keats as a poet at work, his artistry developing in front of us, is an element of the film sure, but what really makes it work is the understated but undeniable driving force of fallible, recognisable, human interaction.
As a young woman with prospects, Fanny Brawne should never have been within reach of the impoverished John Keats – his poetry sadly failing to make an impact until after his early death – but as circumstances has them living in close proximity and her headstrong nature intrigued by the quiet passion of a man she can’t quite work out, a passionate yet troubled love affair starts between the pair.
Watched over with wary affection by Kerry Fox’s kindly mother and Claudie Blakely’s compassionate friend, Abbie Cornish gives a simply stellar performance as the forthright Fanny, flirtatious and determined yet empathetic in the uncontrollable rush of her burgeoning love for Ben Whishaw’s equally excellent Keats. Theirs is a relationship one cannot help but tumble for head over heels, it fits and starts and has more than its fair share of trials but these serve to show the messiness of falling for the ‘wrong’ person and the glorious determination to simply forge ahead anyway.
Campion also has a keen eye for a supporting cast of great theatrical pedigree, so kudos to casting director Nina Gold who employs the likes of delectable Samuels Barnett and Roukin as colleagues of Keats, Vincent Franklin as a doctor, Amanda Hale, Sebastian Armesto, Adrian Schiller, the list goes on. Olly Alexander makes a fleeting appearance too as Keats’ sickly brother.
But ultimately this is a love story: a powerfully told and deeply affecting one, beautifully acted, which touches my soul – Cornish’s final crying scene is surely one of the most heart-wrenching ever committed to film.
