While it might be locked in time, Jane Campion’s “Bright Star” is not a period piece by any means. Caught up in the sweet but tragic embrace of love, you will soon shed any reminiscence of the smugness of proper english and resort back to the innocence of attraction.
When romantic poet John Keats (Ben Whishaw) first meets the exuberant Fanny Brawne (Abbie Cornish), the attraction is instantaneous. Brawne begins a campaign of avid childlike flirting with Keats, leaving him dumbstruck and fully in love. As their relationship grows it comes with it’s fair share of complications. Like most unfamiliar poets, Keats is less than broke, finding himself in debt and unable to make Fanny his proper wife. Not only strangers oppose of the pair, Keats’ close friend Charles Armitage Brown (Paul Schneider), who’s dislike of Fanny is no secret, accuses her of causing troubles in their writing. It soon becomes evident that Brown’s accusations are completely untrue as Fanny has become a muse for Keats, inspiring him to write the best poetry of his life.
Jane Campion accomplishes what few directors have failed to achieve in my eyes, and that is modernizing a period piece to fit the emotional understanding of today’s audience. She takes two very real characters and presents them to us unlike any book or article can – in the flesh. Along with with her top-of-the-line writing and the tone setting cinematography, Campion completes what I believe to be her best work since 1993′s Academy Award-winning “The Piano.”
When a film is so intently focused on the characters, it’s hard to look past the work of the actors, and with the performances in this film, why would you want to. I’ve been a fan of Ben Whishaw since I was lucky enough to see his performance in “Perfume: The Story of a Murderer.” I’ve been waiting for him to gain notable attention and with “Bright Star” I think he will achieve just that. The most essential aspect he brings to his portrayal of Keats is his calmness, and the attention he gives us as an audience, as if we are listening to the film through him.
In the same light, Abbie Cornish, who is still very young in her career as well, puts forth a very sturdy interpretation of Fanny Brawne. Her emotional range is fantastic and her ability to portray a woman grieving in such tragic situations leaves us very gracious of her performance.
The key to giving every film a chance is not going into the theater with any sort of preconceived notion that you know whether or not you will enjoy yourself. As I know personally, we all frequently surprise ourselves as we find out who we truly are. The same applies in film. Many people take refuge in the ability to escape from their lives and jump into someone else’s skin. Campion gives us a quality two hours to do just that and we should take advantage of it.