Bright Star (2009)

Directed by: Jane Campion | 90 minutes | biography, drama, romance | Actors: Ben Whishaw, Abbie Cornish, Thomas Sangster, Paul Schneider, Samuel Barnett, Kerry Fox, Roger Ashton-Griffiths, Samuel Roukin, Antonia Campbell-Hughes, Sebastian Armesto, Olly Alexander, Jonathan Aris, Joyia Fitch, Adrian Schiller, Alfred Harmsworth Sam Gaukroger, Edie Martin, Sally Reeve, Gerard Monaco, Will Garthwaite, Guy Mannerings

While some directors switch genres and styles with each film, Jane Campion’s work is remarkably coherent. Her psychological dramas are usually set in the not too distant past and are about women who are vulnerable and strong-willed at the same time. In terms of style, Campion’s films are characterized by old-fashioned thoroughness and a special sense of humor. This consistent approach produces a mixed body of work, ranging from mediocre (‘Holy Smoke’) to good (‘The Piano’) to great (‘An Angel at My Table’).

After the remarkable thriller trip ‘In the Cut’, the biographical drama ‘Bright Star’ is again a typical Campion product. With Fanny Brawne (perfectly played by Aussie Abby Cornish), a heroine appears who is as stubborn as he is vulnerable. Unstoppable by adversity or the petit-bourgeois mores of her day, Fanny persists in an impossible love for her neighbor, the romantic poet John Keats. That unconsummated love yields some wonderful love letters and poems, as well as a battle between Brawne and Keats’ best friend, the poet Charles Brown.

As a biographical drama ‘Bright Star’ always captivates. The film is even more interesting in its portrayal of the romantic sense of life, as a constant longing for a better reality. Romance here has nothing to do with candlelight, kisses or entwined bodies, but with beds and bodies separated by a wooden wall. If the desire is already fulfilled, then there is that other desire, to stop time and let the happiness continue into eternity.

With Fanny Brawne and John Keats, ‘Bright Star’ has two strong characters. All the more regrettable that the love between the two is not always palpable. Even in the more intimate scenes, when there is crying and caressing, it remains an introverted, formal love. It gives the film something aloof, which with the long running time and the lack of perspective causes the attention to slacken sometimes. Because the film also has sufficient quality, that is not a disaster. It is a pity. Now ‘Bright Star’ is a good movie, where it could have been a great movie.