Bright Star

Director: Jane Campion

18 June 2023

See

Him: John Keats (Ben Whishaw) and Fanny’s (Abbie Cornish) romance was a real life struggle as he was a poet without income and she, despite her strong character and creative outlet of being a seamstress, was stuck in a society that required behaving in line with expectations. 

Her: Bright Star is Jane Campion’s eighth feature, starring Ben Shishaw and Abbie COrnish, based on a real life story between the famous 19th century poet John Keats and Fanny Brawne, daughter of his landlady. 

Think

Him: It’s a doomed love story knowing that he died of tuberculosis at 25. I’m not one for poetry but visited the Keats house in Hampstead Heath and read Ode to a Nightingale there. I understand how she fell for him and how he couldn’t improve his station. Ben Whishaw is so sensitive, I believe him too.

Her: Living in a relatively open-minded Western society in the 21st century, it is hard to accept the insurmountability of the rules and barriers that made their love impossible. At the same time, it is also hard to imagine Keats’ poetry to be written in the modern day. The times they truly are changing.

Feel

Him: The cinematography was sumptuous, Greg Fraiser is a big deal now, shooting Dune movies, but his is not the only Australian talent on display. Seeing Abbie Cornish bereaved was devastating. But my favourite part was Paul Schneider as Keats’ friend and patron Mr. Brown. Who believed in him and kept him going. His scenes were just as touching when he’s flattering the poets hands for writing those words. Something many of us would only appreciate post humously. Kafka, Van Gogh and Keats are now known by their surnames alone associated with their art because Max Brod, Theo Van Gough and Mr Drown backed them.

Her: Just like Fanny Brawne, I struggle with understanding poetry. Jane Campion, on the contrary, evidently understands, feels it and even found a way to visualise it, so that it became a little easier to understand the beauty of it. Fanny Brawne’s character seemed very progressive for the time and reminded me a bit of Kate Winslet’s character in The Dressmaker. Everything in this film is filled with poetry which I appreciate but wouldn’t wish for that story to every happen to me.