Review of Bright Star (2009) by Thomas W — 13 Mar 2010
An artfully shot, thoughtful, sumptuously romantic film of true beauty. Bright Star is Jane Campion's best work since her 90's masterpiece, The Piano (I still liked her Portrait of a Lady; but .
.. this is better). Abbie Cornish is currently being robbed of acting nominations for her wondrous performance as Fanny Brawne in Bright Star in exchange for the inexplicible praise Sandra Bullock is getting for the amateur-ish The Blind Side.
Popularity is the ONLY explanation. Brawne falls in love with a young man with no money and no social standing -- which makes her love impossible in this time period. The young man of her affections, is John Keats, the young and ridiculously-gifted romantic poet.
The love affair is doomed from the start for several different reasons ... anybody with any knowledge of Keat's life knows why. Brawne was a young woman ahead of the times -- she thought for herself, she rebelled and she created her own cutting-edge fashions (which gives the viewer some wonderfully creative costumes in shades of pink, blush, begonia and peony).
Bright Star is a slow-moving personal drama full of love and restrained emotions. It is a wonder to actually behold -- especially because of Cornish's performance. She is amazing. I do find it shameful (SHAMEFUL) that this film is being overlooked because of a blockbuster containing a "decent" performance.
Cornish's performance is art.
This review of Bright Star (2009) was written by Thomas W on 13 Mar 2010.
Bright Star has generally received positive reviews.
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