Bright Star is one of the most beautiful films I have ever seen. Breathtaking, spellbinding, a cinematic work of art with each painterly scene worthy of a Renaissance period frame and a gallery installation. Masterfully lit, meticulously decorated, with costumes and art direction that draws you into the early 19th century; it is certain to see many nods from the Academy.
In fact, Bright Star is already winning accolades for the Writer/Director, Australian filmmaker Jane Campion. The film earned her a nomination for a second Palme d'Or at Cannes (Campion is the only woman to have won the award - for The Piano in 1994 - for which she also took home the Best Original Screenplay Oscar.)
Based on Andrew Morton's book about poet John Keats (Ben Wishaw) and his love for the youthful Fanny Brawne (Abbie Cornish) and inspired by the poem Keats wrote for his muse; the title of which is the first verse:
Bright star, would I were steadfast as thou art -
Not in lone splendour hung aloft the night
And watching, with eternal lids apart,
Like nature's patient, sleepless Eremite,
The moving waters at their priest-like task
Of pure ablution round earth's human shores,
Or gazing on the new soft-fallen mask
Of snow upon the mountains and the moors -
No - yet still steadfast, still unchangeable,
Pillowed upon my fair Love's ripening breast,
To feel for ever its soft fall and swell,
Awake for ever in a sweet unrest,
Still, still to hear her tender-taken breath,
And so live ever - or else swoon in death.
Not in lone splendour hung aloft the night
And watching, with eternal lids apart,
Like nature's patient, sleepless Eremite,
The moving waters at their priest-like task
Of pure ablution round earth's human shores,
Or gazing on the new soft-fallen mask
Of snow upon the mountains and the moors -
No - yet still steadfast, still unchangeable,
Pillowed upon my fair Love's ripening breast,
To feel for ever its soft fall and swell,
Awake for ever in a sweet unrest,
Still, still to hear her tender-taken breath,
And so live ever - or else swoon in death.
Campion has crafted an exquisite love story which is a powerfully emotional journey of devotion and longing. Its narrative is palpable, especially through the sincerity and dismay portrayed by the coquettish Cornish (Heath Ledger's Candy co-star) whose character is at once feisty and helpless. It is a feast for the eyes and as lyrical as poetry for the soul. Not to be wasted on home viewing, see Bright Star at the theatre.
(Diane Bennett is covering Events, Headliners & Music on Film)
