Review of Bright Star (2009) by Ryan H — 21 Apr 2012

In the mood for a romantic period piece? One that shows the passion felt between two people who simply can't live without each other? Bright Star should quench that thirst. While Jane Campion is interested in the story of John Keats and his inspiration for his poem Bright Star, she's also interested in telling a story of what she believes to be true love.

The inspiration part of the story comes indirectly from Mr. Brown (played by the fantastic Paul Schneider, whom I got to meet after the screening last night). He keeps telling Keats that he needs to let the girl go and focus on his poetry.

If Miss Brawne is involved in his life then he will lose everything that he has in his talent. What I loved about Mr. Brown's character was that he's not fully hateable. He makes a ton of bad decisions, but most of them have reasons behind them that we can understand.

He flirts with Fanny because he believes she only pretends to like poetry to distract John. Mr. Brown has only seen the devious, biting side of Fanny, so of course he's worried about his friend's well being.

Then, when he leaves with Abigail, he does so because he has to take up new responsibilities. Of course it wasn't the best idea to fool around with Abigail in the first place, but that's a whole different thing.

It's hard to hate him because he's just human. But his story shows that John Keats needed Fanny Brawne in his life. His most popular poem Bright Star was written for her. Their love is what inspired him.

The first part of the film we see Keats and Brown lying around the office looking for inspiration. They keep their minds open for anything to come in. That's why Brown was a failed poet, because he didn't experience life and love like Keats.

The more Keats involved himself with Fanny, the more he could write. I think that's the beautiful message of the film, which makes the love story so powerful. We need love. It's what makes us carry on and what inspires us.

Of course, I didn't go too much into the love story here because that wasn't the unique part of the film. Yes, John and Fanny have a hard time with their connections because he's poor an can't marry, so there are family issues and blah blah blah.

When he leaves her she can't go on. You know, the usual. But the way Campion weaves this within the story of inspiration of the artist is what gave this film a beating heart.