'Bright Star' review

Abbie Cornish and Ben Whishaw (Credit: Apparition)

The brief but deep love affair between Fanny Brawne (Abbie Cornish) and legendary romantic poet John Keats (Ben Whishaw) was complicated by Keats’ status as a starving artist (he wasn’t widely celebrated until years after his untimely death at age 25) and the strict social standards of the early 19th Century. Fanny’s mother (Kerry Fox) tries to keep her daughter aware of the romantic risks, while Keats’ friend and professional admirer Mr. Brown (Paul Schneider, adapting a Scottish accent) considers Fanny a flighty distraction.

The buzz: Jane Campion remains one of the few women ever nominated for a best director Oscar (for “The Piano,” which earned her a best original screenplay win in 1994), but she hasn’t made a feature film since the box office disappointment of 2003’s sexually frank thriller “In the Cut.” Now she returns with a PG-rated period romance that premiered to a mixed reception at this year’s Cannes film festival.

The verdict: A quiet, pure movie about the all-consuming nature of love and romance, “Bright Star” also has a clear-eyed affinity for and appreciation of poetry (it should become a favorite of English teachers everywhere). This is one of those movies that inspires people to make silly claims that a sequence of lovers reading verse packs a greater erotic punch than any fleshy sex scene, but Campion (who’s proven herself no prude in the past) pulls it off without seeming uptight or out of touch. The bond between Fanny and John is both restrained and passionate, providing Whishaw and especially Cornish the opportunity to shine as young lovers whose mutual affection burns brighter than their tragic circumstances. “Bright Star” is a small film, but it’s also an uncommonly lovely work

Did you know? Australian actress Cornish had an advantage in proving herself ready to take on the role—Campion's frequent collaborator Jan Chapman produced Cornish's rental-worthy breakthrough film, "Somersault."

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