Romantic poet John Keats (Ode on a Grecian Urn) had a tragically short career- he died of consumption at the tender age of 25. But despite his all-too-early demise, Keats wrote beautiful poetry and experienced a deeply felt love affair with the girl next door - the witty fashion designer Fanny Brawne. Money troubles, family disapproval, and Keats' illness conspire to separate the young lovers, but Fanny remains his steadfast Bright Star.I was very excited to see Bright Star when I heard it was coming out. A BBC production, a period piece, Romantic poets, tragic love. It sounded like a movie I would really enjoy, and the critics were nigh-universal in its praise. I'm sure you can all hear the 'But' coming. So I'll just skip to that -I didn't really care for it. I was prepared for a slow pace, slowly growing affection and a great deal of subtlety, but I felt the movie dragged.
The story focuses almost exclusively on the relationship between Keats and Fanny, which is why I was disappointed in the manner they came to fall in love. True, there are some charming moments when they first meet (the mirror scene is cute and awkward), but I didn't really understand what they saw in each other. Keats disapproved of Fanny's 'frivolous' interest in fashion, flirting and dancing - and I never understood when or why he changed his mind. Nor did I get a sense of why Fanny became so completely devoted to Keats - other than boredom or simple proximity. While I often enjoy a slowly developing film, when there doesn't seem to be any plot unfolding...well, Bright Star seemed to be a lushly photographed montage of walking scenes...
There were several very evocative scenes where I got a real sense of the potential of the movie - there's a lovely scene with butterflies, Fanny's gut-wrenching reaction to the news of Keats' death. But much of the potential remained unrealized in my opinion. Much could have been made of the effects of Keats' break-up attempts or the lovers' last parting. But while sweet, I didn't get a sense of the consuming passion I expected.
Bottom line: I wasn't nearly as enamored with Bright Star as the critics. I would wait for the DVD.
And as parting, the sonnet that inspired the title of the film:
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 priestlike 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,
Pillow’d 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 to 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 priestlike 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,
Pillow’d 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 to death.
2 comments:
I was hoping this would be good, but it looks like it's not worth a watch, it kind of seems like the movie Becoming Jane, I was expecting that too be good but it just fell flat.
rebrebs - I did have a similar reaction to Becoming Jane. Although the reasons were different. I really don't care for noble self-sacrifice plots. The issue in Bright Star seemed to be that there just wasn't enough plot to fill the time.
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