RSS 2.0 FeedSeptember 30, 2009, Featured Articles, Film
Doomed love portrayed brilliantly in "Bright Star"
Rock icon and self-described poet Jim Morrison once wrote, "Did you have a good world when you died? Enough to base a movie on?" While early 19th century poet John Keats, a tragic figure in his own right, may not have thought he had a good world when he died at the age of 25, his life and love were epic enough to inspire this drama.
Rock icon and self-described poet Jim Morrison once wrote, "Did you have a good world when you died? Enough to base a movie on?" While early 19th century poet John Keats, a tragic figure in his own right, may not have thought he had a good world when he died at the age of 25, his life and love were epic enough to inspire the drama Bright Star.
Set against the backdrop of 1818 London, the always struggling Keats (English actor Ben Whishaw - The International, Stoned) becomes entranced and vexed by an 18-year-old girl next door named Fanny Brawne (Australian actress Abbie Cornish - Candy, Somersault), the woman he would refer to as his "bright star."
The opinionated, flirtatious Brawne thinks of herself as a fashion designer and is just as passionate about it as Keats is about his poetry. They gradually fall madly in love, which proves frustrating for Keats whose bouts of jealousy compound his sense of not being able to understand women. It also seems to have an adverse effect on his continually failing health caused by tuberculosis.
The one person who is most upset by their love affair is Keats's close friend and fellow poet Charles Armitage Brown (North Carolina-born actor Paul Schneider - Away We Go, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford). Brown is thoroughly disgusted by what he sees as Brawne's distracting feminine games. And out of his deep respect and brotherly love for Keats, he treats her rudely.
Despite the protestations of nearly everyone around them, which are valid in the sense that Keats is essentially destitute, their relationship continues to the point where they become secretly engaged. Alas, their Shakespearean-type love affair is a doomed one; yet the inspired poetry that Keats creates during this time frame helps his posthumous reputation as being one of the most important figures in the Romantic movement.
Bright Star has to be one of the most richly written films to come along in recent memory. Thanks to writer/director Jane Campion (The Piano), it has a dialogue that is as just rewarding to listen to as is Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata" or simply the sounds of nature on a warm spring day.
Campion's piece is also a reminder of what we have seemingly lost in the modern computer/internet age - the power of the handwritten word on paper. When was the last time you, the esteemed reader, actually received a handwritten letter in the mail? Color me old-fashioned but texts and e-mails simply don't have the same emotional power. I would like to think that Keats and Brawne would agree.
Schneider and Whishaw are excellent in their roles, but it is Cornish who is simply breathtaking. Her radiance on the silver screen comes not just from her looks, but the emotional depth she is able to produce as Brawne. I believe it to be Oscar worthy. At the very least, Bright Star deserves a nod for its outstanding costume designs.
Yes John Keats, you did have a good world when you died. Certainly enough to base a tremendous movie upon.
On a letter grade scale from A being excellent to F for failing, Bright Star receives an A.
Bright Star is rated PG and has a running time of 119 minutes.
Now showing through October 22 @
Tivoli Cinemas
Westport Manor Square, 4050 Pennsylvania, KCMO
Visit www.tivolikc.com or call 913-383-7756 for showtimes.
Indie Film Editor
Michael D. Smith earned a Bachelor of Arts in history at College of the Ozarks in Point Lookout, Missouri followed by a Master of Arts in history at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.
Inspired by such critics as Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, Michael started reviewing films in 1992 for College of the Ozarks's student-run newspaper. After returning to the Kansas City area in 1994, he continued film reviewing by writing for the Cass County Democrat Missourian in Harrisonville.
In 2000 Michael joined Sun Publications in Overland Park, Kansas where he served as its film critic and Arts and Entertainment Editor. During his tenure there, he was also the film critic for the "Fine Arts Radio Hour" and "Celebrity Scoop" radio shows on KXTR. After leaving the Sun in late 2002, he became the A&E writer for the Olathe News in Olathe, Kansas. He also worked as a freelance writer for The Squire in Leawood, Showcase Publishing in Lake Ozark, Missouri and the Kansas City Star.
Michael is currently a member of the Kansas City Film Critics Circle, a professional film critic organization established in 1966 by the late Dr. James Loutzenhiser.
Comments(1):
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Bright Star is Amazing!
Friday, November 13, 2009 Zee
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