Reviewed by Kate Rodger
It feels like we’ve been waiting a while for Jane Campion’s (The Piano / In the Cut) latest film, after all we first had a taste of it way back last May, when Bright Star was up for the Palme D’or at the Cannes Film Festival.
We were then lucky enough to have the film open our own New Zealand International Film Festival in July. Now, we welcome Bright Star back on full cinematic release.
The film is based on the short life of romantic poet John Keats, and his even shorter romance with Miss Fanny Brawne, and is history, romance and poetry in gorgeous cinematic form.
The casting is bang-on. Rising Australian star Abbie Cornish (Somersault / Candy) plays Fanny Brawne with a feisty vulnerability, and British actor Ben Whishaw (Perfume / Brideshead Revisited) could well have been Keats in a former life, the fragility of his physical presence offset by a healthy twinkle in his eye.
The supporting cast perform admirably. Kiwi Kerry Fox (Shallow Grave / Intimacy) first met Campion when the little-known director cast her in An Angle at My Table twenty years ago, and she augments the Bright Star cast well as Fanny Brawne’s mother.
One of the highlights of this film is most certainly the visuals, as rich colour and light drips from the screen and drenches the senses. It’s beautifully shot by young Australian cinematographer Greig Fraser, who also lensed kiwi film Out of the Blue.
Bright Star can now call itself “Oscar-Nominated”. Long-time Campion collaborator Janet Patterson got a nod for Best Costume, and hooked a BAFTA nomination along the way as well.
Campion writes as well as directs this film and the antipodean humour is evident in both the script and overall flavour of this slice of history, adding a real sense of fun to this ultimately tragic story.
There will be some who may find Bright Star a little too slow and I can understand that feeling. My advice is, nestle back in your big cinema seat with a glass of red wine or a big box of popcorn, make yourself comfortable, and let the romance and poetry wash over you.
Four and a Half Stars
Bright Star
:: Director: Jane Campion
:: Starring: GBen Whishaw, Abbie Cornish, Paul Schneider, Kerry Fox, Edie Martin, Thomas Brodie-Sangster
:: Running Time: 119 mins
:: Rating: PG - contains sexual references
:: Release Date: February 18, 2010
