Bright Star is an admirable film made by a superb craftsman, but for me, Campion fails to deliver the big emotional punch she hopes to land.
Comment
11/13/09
Bright Star (2009)
83
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:125
Fresh:104
Rotten:21
Average Rating:7.2/10
Consensus: Jane Campion's direction is as refined as her screenplay, and she gets the most out of her cast -- especially Abbie Cornish -- in this understated period drama.
Rated: PG [See Full Rating]
Genre: Dramas
Theatrical Release:06-11-2009
Synopsis: London 1818: a secret love affair begins between 23 year old English poet, John Keats, and the girl next door, Fanny Brawne, an outspoken student of fashion. This unlikely pair started at odds;... [More]
Starring: Ben Whishaw, Abbie Cornish, Paul Schneider, Kerry Fox
Director: Jane Campion
Reviews for Bright Star
Sit and savour this marvellous film until the lights come up.
11/13/09
A combination of unstuffy dialogue, wise casting, unselfconscious performances and sensuous but never pretty photography makes Campion’s version of the nineteenth century feel current but not anachronistic.
11/06/09
Top CriticAn eloquent, well-crafted return to form - and return to corsets and period frocks - for Jane Campion, who uses the character of Fanny Brawne, the survivor, to give a unique perspective on the creative, terminal period in the life of John Keats.
11/06/09
Top CriticWithout major tension, conflict or crisis, Brawne and Keats simply mope about, moon at each other, talk about literature and wait for the great poet to die from tuberculosis.
11/06/09
Top CriticDramatically static from first to final frame, it charts the non-progress of the central relationship as a series of nineteenth-century feints and counter-feints.
11/06/09
Top CriticA wonderfully realised account of intoxicating love and a movie with spirit and soul. Don't expect it to set the box office on fire though.
11/06/09
This shrugs off the musty restraints of costumed stereotypes and concentrates exclusively on the slowburning affair as Keats finds himself "dissolving" as love draws him in.
11/06/09
Quietly shedding all the fussy baggage of ‘heritage drama’, Campion gives us a moving account of Keats’ great love and tragic death. A film of pictorial beauty and authenticity, graced with a fine cast.
11/06/09
There's a spellbinding, painterly quality to the way Campion depicts the changing seasons (between 1819 and 1820) and it sets a mood that complements the poet's vivid and sensuous style.
11/06/09
It simmers rather than sizzles, shimmers rather than sears. But possession of a Y chromosome is by no means an obstacle to enjoyment of it.
11/06/09
There's a fine line between fragile sensitivity and wimpishness, and Ben Whishaw tramples all over it. He is the drippiest British actor since the Merchant Ivory heyday of James Wilby.
11/06/09
[Bright Star] may have inspired some beautiful poetry but, here, provokes mere yawns.
11/06/09
A heavenly delight.
11/06/09
Steadfastness, truth and a simple, blazing, incandescent humanity. This is a literary life story in which life, for once, is the meaningful word.
11/06/09
Bright Star deals with the sonnets and the bonnets – top marks to the production and costume designer, Janet Patterson – with wit and restraint, and proves that a chaste romance needn't lack for passion, or poetry.
11/06/09
Beautiful cinematography, exceptional performances and an admirable sense of restraint combine to make it one of the most gorgeous and satisfying period dramas in recent memory.
11/06/09
Campion has created another resonant paean to love’s pain and joy, and gives new life to John Keats, too often now associated with dusty school books.
11/06/09
Top CriticBright Star is that rare and upbraiding thing, a film - perhaps the last one of the year - that seeks not to jam your emotions or scare you silly, but asks you to think about words.
11/06/09
Sumptuous attention to detail, lush photography and beautifully understated performances
11/06/09
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