Bright Star (2009)
Average Rating: 7.2/10
Reviews Counted: 155
Fresh: 128 | Rotten: 27
Jane Campion's direction is as refined as her screenplay, and she gets the most out of her cast -- especially Abbie Cornish -- in this understated period drama.
Average Rating: 7.6/10
Critic Reviews: 36
Fresh: 33 | Rotten: 3
Jane Campion's direction is as refined as her screenplay, and she gets the most out of her cast -- especially Abbie Cornish -- in this understated period drama.
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Average Rating: 3.6/5
User Ratings: 10,496
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Movie Info
Jane Campion's literary biopic tells the true story of Fanny Brawne (Abbie Cornish), a 23-year-old Londoner in 1818 whose independent streak manifests itself through an intense interest and love for fashion and dressmaking. Her neighbor, the struggling but gifted young poet John Keats (Ben Whishaw), underestimates her intelligence because he believes she's frivolous, and she, having no interest in literature, seems thoroughly disinterested in him. However, Fanny attempts to help the Keats family
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Cast
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Ben Whishaw
John Keats -
Abbie Cornish
Fanny Brawne -
Kerry Fox
Mrs. Brawne -
Paul Schneider
Charles Armitage Brown -
Edie Martin
Toots -
Thomas Sangster
Samuel -
Claudie Blakley
Maria Dilke -
Gerard Monaco
Charles Dilke -
Antonia Campbell-Hughes
Abigail -
Samuel Roukin
Reynolds -
Amanda Hale
Reynolds Sister -
Lucinda Raikes
Reynolds Sister -
Samuel Barnett
Mr. Severn -
Jonathan Aris
Mr. Hunt -
Olly Alexander
Tom Keats -
Francois Testory
Dance Master -
Theresa Watson
Charlotte -
Vincent Franklin
Dr. Bree -
Eileen Davies
Mrs. Bentley -
Roger Ashton-Griffiths
Shopkeeper -
Sally Reeve
Landlady -
Sebastian Armesto
Mr. Haslam -
Adrian Schiller
Mr. Taylor -
Alfred Harmsworth
Charles Dilke Jr. -
Lucas Motion
Suitor at Ball -
Topper
The Cat
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Bright Star Trailer & Photos
All Critics (156) | Top Critics (36) | Fresh (131) | Rotten (27) | DVD (6)
Campion, who won fans with The Piano (1993) and lost them with the dismal In the Cut (2003) here returns to the top of her form.
Top CriticA combination of unstuffy dialogue, wise casting, unselfconscious performances and sensuous but never pretty photography makes Campion's version of the nineteenth century feel current but not anachronistic.
For a movie so sensuously mounted, it's remarkably grounded.
The rare film about the life of an artist that is itself a work of art.
In its way Campion's film is a thing of beauty, but its characters' inner lives must be taken on faith.
Greig Fraser's cool cinematography offsets the heat in Campion's ecstatically literate screenplay, which quotes Keats' handiwork all the way through the end credits. It sounds like music.
Campion's film avoids any taint of costume drama frippery. Yes, Fanny starts off as a Regency-era fashionista, but Cornish and Whishaw's deeply felt performances give us a real sense of the beating hearts beneath the frock coats and bonnets.
to film asxoleitai me ton erwta toys, apo th skopia ths Fanny, apo th skopia petaloydas poy sboyrizei anemela mexri na brei sto libadi poihth na toy royfhksei to nektar
The emotions found in Bright Star are raw and passionate, and are magnificently presented in the most simplest and natural moments.
Romance and poetry have no time to sag
Gorgeous and anchored by a flinty performance from Abbie Cornish, it's a mystery as to why this Jane Campion period piece fades away rather than catches fire.
High-Toned, Tragic, Exalted Soap
Janet Patterson has come up with an exquisite wardrobe for Fanny that magically suits both the biographical back-story and Cornish's fine physique. Let's hope Oscar agrees.
The plot doesn't have much to go on, so much is imagined but not demonstrably true, with acting, production design and period costume hopefully covering for accuracy.
Has a disarming quality to it, depicting a romance not as torrid waves of drama but as something that is born awkward and steadily gains its holding.
A movie in the inimitable PBS Masterpiece Theater style. John Keats falls in love, gets TB and dies. At least there are no Exxon commercials.
The film appears to be flirting with the idea of superficiality and romance and wit and depth of character but never really explores any tack at length, except the agonies of their love.
An intoxicating and intelligent romance film with strong fleshed-out characters that defy all the clichés and pulpy attributes that usually plague this genre.
This is tragic young love in all its overwrought glory and agony. This is not the reserved, stylish sort of love one seen in Jane Austen's works.
Oh Bright Star, wouldst thou were a great film... but thou art not. Thou art good but bitsy.
But the film is more about the impact of love on both their lives than about the impact of his poetry, which wasn't widely recognised until after his death. Life's a bitch.
Audience Reviews for Bright Star
I'd watch it again. Even though the second half was, at times, almost unbearably sad. Something tells me I'll be on the lookout for more films featuring either Ben Whishaw or Abbie Cornish. After I watched "I'm Not There," I was patiently waiting another film with Ben Whishaw in it. Lo and behold, here's one.
Better yet, my mom rented this movie and lent it to me. My mom NEVER rents excellent movies. Without my guidance. Total mindfuck.
Super Reviewer
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- Maria Dilke: A poem needs understanding through the senses.
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- Fanny Brawne: Hope and results are different. One doesn't necessarily create the other.
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- Fanny Brawne: [the night before he leaves] You know I would do anything.
- John Keats: I have a conscience.
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- John Keats: There is a holiness to the heart's affections you know nothing about!
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Foreign Titles
- Bright Star - Meine Liebe. Ewig. (DE)
Highly recommended