The film appears to be flirting with the idea of superficiality and romance and wit and depth of character but never really explores any tack at length, except the agonies of their love.
Comment
12/29/09
Bright Star (2009)
84
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:140
Fresh:118
Rotten:22
Average Rating:7.3/10
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:Sep 16, 2009 Limited
Box Office: $4,341,275
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
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Reviews for Bright Star
An intoxicating and intelligent romance film with strong fleshed-out characters that defy all the clichés and pulpy attributes that usually plague this genre.
12/28/09
This is tragic young love in all its overwrought glory and agony. This is not the reserved, stylish sort of love one seen in Jane Austen's works.
12/27/09
Oh Bright Star, wouldst thou were a great film... but thou art not. Thou art good but bitsy.
12/23/09
But the film is more about the impact of love on both their lives than about the impact of his poetry, which wasn't widely recognised until after his death. Life's a bitch.
12/18/09
Like a bright star that shines from the heavens, Jane Campion's film about the doomed love between the poet John Keats and Fanny Brawne is exquisitely beautiful, but keeps us at arm's length.
12/18/09
The most perfect film of the year.
12/18/09
Your heart will break, your head will swoon, and you will hope against hope for a happy ending that history will not permit.
12/17/09
One of the year's pleasures for the eyes, mind and heart -- a bright star indeed.
12/17/09
Jane Campion's film is as lyrical as you might expect but it's also enlivened with a bracing air of irreverence.
12/17/09
Equal parts a lovely daydream and heaving, lovelorn sobs, Bright Star is something of an intimate masterpiece.
12/16/09
I think it's her most restrained film, in a lot of ways. It's very classic. It's very poetic. It embraces Keats poetry in the making of it.
12/16/09
Campion takes her time to tell her tender story, but the film rewards with a conclusion I found incredibly moving. This is certainly one of the best films of the year.
12/16/09
A lush romantic drama where the best elements are the least romantic.
12/12/09
This is a worthwhile story told with lukewarm emotion. The doomed love comes off as less a tragedy than a pity. The background makes this story more interesting than the foreground does.
12/03/09
Campion, who won fans with The Piano (1993) and lost them with the dismal In the Cut (2003) here returns to the top of her form.
11/22/09
Top CriticBright 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.
11/13/09
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
An 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
Latest News for Bright Star
November 29, 2009:
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August 26, 2009:
Trailer and pics featuring Ben Whishaw, Abbie Cornish, Paul Schneider, and Kerry Fox
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