Kiwi director Jane Campion's (The Piano) drama based on the three-year romance between 19th century poet John Keats (Ben Whishaw) and Fanny Brawne (Abbie Cornish), which was cut short by Keats' untimely death at age 25. Keats considered himself a failure in his own lifetime, but he was later "discovered" and revered as one of the great Romantic poets.
Bright Star was a hit at Cannes and opened the 2009 New Zealand International Film Festival.
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83%179 reviews
Breaking through any period-piece mustiness with piercing insight into the emotions and behavior of her characters, the writer-director examines the final years in the short life of 19th-century romantic poet John Keats through the eyes of his beloved, Fanny Brawne, played by Abbie Cornish in an outstanding performance.
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Director Jane Campion has a knack for portraying female characters so intimately that she seems to get beneath their skin. She does it again in Bright Star, an exquisite piece of film-making about the doomed romance between the poet John Keats and his neighbour Fanny Brawne.
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Forget The Piano. Jane Campion's calm, subtle and measured film about Keats is the best of her career.
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What Campion does is seek visual beauty to match Keats' verbal beauty. There is a shot here of Fanny in a meadow of blue flowers that is so enthralling it beggars description.
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Easily Campion's best film, it deserves to be remembered as one of the best films ever about love.
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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.
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Masterfully put-together, made with confidence, intelligence and command.
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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.
Full reviewWe aren’t aware of any way to watch Bright Star in South Africa. If we’ve got that wrong, please contact us.
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