Bright Star

Bright Star
by Jane Campion
2009
Jan Chapman Pictures
Rated PG

Plot Summary:
Fanny Brawne and John Keats meet as neighbors in a small English town. They slowly begin to know each other, ultimately unable to resist the intensely emotional and sensual pull they feel towards each other.
Critical Evaluation:
Campion begins her film with the assumption of establishment: there is no introduction to the characters of Fanny and John. However, their relationship builds so slowly that the development of it and the individual characters becomes totally immersive. Their inclinations toward the other are juxtaposed with his words, her seams, and the budding flowers and drooping branches of the world around them. Indeed, it is as if the world is blooming for them. The historical knowledge of Keats' tragic end and with it the end of their love adds an element of constant regret and sadness, further magnifying the intensity of their love as it plays out on screen.
Viewer's Annotation:
Fanny Brawns and John Keats are seemingly opposites, one versed in the physical, the other in the ethereal. Yet what they create together transcends both.
Genre:
Historical Romance
Author Info:
Jane Campion has been an accomplished director for two decades. Her film The Piano was the first film directed by a woman to receive the Cannes' Film Festival's Golden Palm Award in 1993. She has directed films regarding everything from the life of New Zealand poet Janet Frame to film adaptations of Henry James' The Portrait of a Lady to Susanna Moore's In the Cut.
Viewer Level/Interest Age:
Though superficially a film for poetic adults, the film's swooning romance should appeal to teenagers.
Filmtalking Ideas:
*Why can't Fanny and John marry?
*Why does John leave for Italy?
*Is Fanny an artist?
Challenge Issues:
The film is rated PG, challenges are basically impossible.
Why Include?:
I love the films of Jane Campion, and I strongly feel that a film such as this is an important educational and emotional work.