Bright Star poster & wallpaper

Abbie Cornish, Ben Whishaw, Thomas Sangster

The drama based on the three-year romance between 19th century poet John Keats and Fanny Brawne, which was cut short by Keats' untimely death at age 25.

Flixster Users

74% liked it

2,475 ratings

Critics

83% liked it

124 critics

PG, 1 hr. 59 min.

Directed by: Jane Campion

Release Date: May 15, 2009

Invite friends to see

DVD Release Date: January 26, 2010

Stats: 398 reviews

Get movie widget Recommend it Add to Favorites
report incorrect info

Photos

Bright Star Bright Star Bright Star
Upload a Photo |

View All Bright Star Photos (3)

Your Rating


clear rating
Share on: Facebook Twitter

Flixster Reviews (398)

  • McKittrick
    November 8, 2009
    McKittrick
    I find it hard to talk about this one without it bringing a lump to my throat.
    This kind of achingly beautiful and unashamedly romantic tale is deeply unfashionable now and it's such a crying shame. Campion has surely bested herself here with this subtle and divinely lyrical lov...( read more)e poem - so making 'The Piano' feel almost like galumphing over-ripe melodrama in comparison.
    I'm sure that much of today's impatient audience will be snoring into their popcorn at Campion's leisurely and smoldering drip drip pace. And the long scene's of poetry reading (it's no mean feat to read poetry with emotional conviction so Whishaw and Cornish should be cherished for sure), the quiet and often silent moments heavy with bated breath and the melancholy longueurs of love unrequited will sorely test the patience of many.
    But us hopeless romantics will (quietly) cheer and find rich rewards. Bright Star has a precious, almost nameless, quality that will linger in your heart and consciousness long after it's utterly sublime credit sequence has faded and I really do pity those that don't fall under its mesmerising spell.
    Exquisite.
  • her69eyes
    October 31, 2009
    her69eyes
    A biopic period piece about a 19th century author who died young from tuberculosis. Could anything sound less appealing?

    Although Jane Campion's latest, "Bright Star", may seem like another prim-and-proper tread through familiar ground, the level of beauty in the piece is not li...( read more)kely to be outdone this year. Brilliantly photographed and blazingly erotic (yet still conservative enough to earn a PG rating), "Bright Star" overcomes the potential fallacies such a subject matter might entail with it's gorgeous visuals and a tremendous performance by the wonderful Australian actress, Abbie Cornish.

    One of the most celebrated of all the romantic poets was John Keats (Ben Whishaw), a young dreamer who passed away of tuberculosis at the age of 25. Although the film concerns Keats' later years, it's not his story - instead, Campion tells her story through Keats' 18-year-old next-door neighbor seamstress, Fanny Brawne (Abbie Cornish). The two, as expected, are not well-matched in their initial meeting, but soon they develop such passion for one another that each peck on the lips is an orgasm, each fleeting touch of skin a thunderstorm.

    Coming between them is Fanny's mother (Kerry Fox), a well-meaning woman who simply doesn't feel that Keats, in debt, would have the financial means to support her daughter. The other obstacle is Keats' best friend and fellow scribe, Charles Brown (Paul Schneider), who takes much delight in irritating Fanny. Each of his confrontations with Fanny, however, are so sexually-charged that their relationship feels like an elementary school crush.

    As brilliant as the film is visually, however, I felt that the drama left a little to be desired. Campion is wonderful in how she handles the material - particularly Keats' death, which is dealt in a surprisingly uncinematic and quiet fashion. But Whishaw's Keats, both in the performance and in the script, is perhaps a bit too passive to get behind. Whishaw is good, but nothing about him demands attention - something that becomes abundantly clear alongside Cornish's powerhouse performance.

    While the romantic centerpiece of the film didn't sweep me away, it's hard to leave "Bright Star" feeling cheated. Certain visuals - a human orchestra, a room of butterflies, Brawne laying in a bed of flowers, Keats atop the trees - are simply transcendent achievements. "Breath-taking" is the most over-used word in film criticism, but it's never been so just.
  • flickfever
    October 30, 2009
    flickfever
    There are times in life when love simply takes over. It takes over logic and reason. It supersedes any sort of common sense or social stature. And there are times in cinema when the portrayal of such romance goes off without a hitch. And Bright Star is one of those instances.

    T...( read more)he tale of Victorian poet John Keats and his lover Fanny Brawne may not be exactly that of Romeo and Juliet; but its merit as a heartbreaking love affair is no less poignant because of its relative obscurity to modern-day audiences. The love that touches both of these real-life characters seeps from the page of the script onto the celluloid that we see flickering in the movie theater and into our own consciousness like an arrow through the heart.

    In an age where social status and cold civility (if not sterility) was the norm, the lovers Keats and Brawne meet as next-door neighbors. John Keats is a renowned, albeit penniless poet who has just released a new book of verse. Fanny Brawne is a feisty, progressive lover of fashion and design who is independent of her own gilded cage and her social station--however more elevated from Keats's it may seem to be.

    So, already we get a sense of the stars being crossed as these lovers begin to position their burgeoning feelings for one another on their constellation of hope. The world continues to revolve around them as if they themselves were the star hanging in space and their love were the flame that threatened to make that star die off in supernova.

    A tale of the plight of love that's too far ahead of its time, Bright Star is filled to the brim with fanciful (yet never pretentious) acting and dialogue that is both beautiful and romantic. The film, by the very nature of its subject matter and the fateful events that transpire, borders on melodrama; but it never dials in the sorrowful violins as a manipulative method to extract tears. It does so in a genuine fashion that is both universal and heartbreaking.

    In the midst of a brilliant film with a brilliant cast, costumes and a cacophony of credibility for its depiction of an era long gone shines Abby Cornish. The actress playing one half of this ill-fated duo is a revelation and a joy to watch. Her skill as as a subtle interpreter of grace and petulant feminism is in full display and virtually eclipses all performances in the film. She burns into the back of your mind the way that our dying, bright star called the Sun does when you look directly at it. It's no wonder why the film's namesake poem (a Keats composition) was written about Fanny Brawne. And the title is an appropriate adjective for Ms. Cornish herself.
  • YLOWBSTARDreturns
    October 18, 2009
    YLOWBSTARDreturns
    A very strong period piece. One of the years most elegant films.
  • 366weirdmovies
    October 15, 2009
    366weirdmovies
    A 19th-century seamstress falls in love with sickly John Keats, a dreamboat who writes poetry on the side. About what you would expect from a Campion historical weeper: well-made and very pretty, with no surprises. Warning to guys: sensitive poets take a LONG time to die from ...( read more)consumption.
  • AnastasiaFB
    November 15, 2009
    AnastasiaFB
    I long to believe in immortality?If I am destined to be happy with you here-how short is the longest life. I wish to believe in immortality-I wish to live with you forever.
    John Keats to Fanny Brawne, July 1820


    A thing of beauty is a joy forever. It is indeed, and Jane Ca...( read more)mpion?s new movie Bright Star, about the tragic and moving love affair between John Keats and Fanny Brawne, is a thing of beauty. I liked The Piano, the film for which Campion is best known, but this is better; this is truly special.

    There is a wonderful succinctness to it all, sharp imagery and a delightful economy in words and scenes, beautiful without being overly lavish, highlighting the growing love between Fanny, played by Abbie Cornish, and Keats, played by Ben Whishaw; highlighting, perhaps, the nature of love itself. Both of the leads are super, oh but Wishaw is John Keats, John Keats as I imagine him, pale, thin, intense, fey; hopelessly, hopelessly romantic.

    The action begins in 1818 in the village of Hampstead (it was once!), where Fanny and Keats are living next door to each other, and proceeds over the next three years until shortly before the poet?s death from tuberculosis in 1821. To begin with Fanny has little interest in either Keats or poetry, taking pride, rather, in her own skills as a dress-maker and designer, coming across as rather shallow and vacuous. But bit by bit they fall in love, intense, deep?and hopeless.

    Campion describes her movie, which draws on Andrew Motion?s biography of Keats, as ?a ballad, a sort of story poem.? And that?s really how it proceeds; the story is the poem. There are some passages and lines from Keats poetry, though this is really subsidiary to the interplay between the two characters. Here the exploration of emotions and moods takes first place. Some of the imagery, the cinematography, is just so starkly beautiful that it?s almost impossible for me to put into words. Let me just say that the boundaries between life and art seem to dissolve altogether

    Cornish and Whishaw show with skill and conviction how the two characters become entwined in each other. There is passion, yes, but no consummation; in the end there is only consumption, the disease that carried Keats away in Rome. Fanny learns of his death from his friend Charles Brown, played by Paul Schneider, a scene intercut with his coffin being carried in front of the Spanish Steps. Fanny breaks down; I broke down, with lavish waterworks, which continued through to the closing credits, over which Whishaw reads Ode to a Nightingale, and reads it beautifully. This is a movie to savour.
  • wheresmybreakfast
    November 13, 2009
    wheresmybreakfast
    The fuuuuuck!?
    My (bright) stars, what a terrible film!
    Poor acting, plodding story and just plain dull characters.
    It is a visually good looking film but I just didn't feel anything from the cast.
    YAWN
  • liquidstone14
    October 22, 2009
    liquidstone14
    An exquisite, heartfelt period piece that's far more authentic and vibrant than your usual Self-Important Awards Bait Costume Melodrama. It's actually been quite a while since the theme of love was unique from start to finish to a film like this in the english language-- the last...( read more) one could very well be Ang Lee's exceptional Brokeback Mountain. Either way, Campion's first film feature in six years finds her in top condition both as a writer and director, finding evocative strength and nestling passion in every frame. Even if there is a noticeable dip in vitality during the film's middle third, where most scenes tend to bleed into one another, its deeply affecting conclusion ties the bow neatly. This is not a biopic about 19th century poet John Keats-- this is a love story, pure and simple. And what a love story! Anchored by two aching, naturalistic performances (Abbie Cornish is a revelation), this Bright Star is one that won't fade away anytime soon.
  • PinkSparkle8800
    October 20, 2009
    PinkSparkle8800
    Bright Star is a well-acted, well-crafted but excruciatingly tepid romantic film about a subject that will attract poetry lovers and yet test even their considerable patience.Plays by the strict and proper rules of the period genre, resulting in a predominantly frigid and imperso...( read more)nal love story.
  • socialcarrottop
    October 16, 2009
    socialcarrottop
    This was an incredible movie full of brilliant, eloquent conversation as well as exceptional cinematography that captured beauty in the colorless nature surrounding the characters. I cried as I felt my own heart breaking as John left her in every way he possibly could. John Keats...( read more) was a captivating poet whose love for his one and only shone through in the exquisite work of "Bright Star."

View All Bright Star Reviews

Critic Reviews

November 6, 2009
Nigel Andrews, The Financial Times

Steadfastness, truth and a simple, blazing, incandescent humanity. This is a literary life story in which life, for once, is the meaningful word. full review

September 25, 2009
Amy Biancolli, Houston Chronicle

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. full review

September 24, 2009
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

What Campion does is seek visual beauty to match Keats' verbal beauty. There is a shot here of Fanny in a meadow of blue flowers that is so enthralling it beggars description. full review

September 18, 2009
Stephanie Zacharek, Salon.com

Campion -- who also wrote the screenplay, inspired by British poet Andrew Motion's biography of Keats -- tells the story of Keats and Fanny in delicate, painterly colors, layered in such a way that th... full review

September 18, 2009
Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal

A film that avoids any trace of musty reverence for a long-dead poet by concentrating our senses on the breathtaking girl next door. full review

September 18, 2009
Amy Biancolli, San Francisco Chronicle

Every frame of this exquisite period romance features an attention to detail, a passion for literature and an intense, fully clothed, pre-Victorian sexiness that suggest a director in something close ... full review

September 18, 2009
Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

A literate, lyrical love story in the age of Hollywood crass. I must be dreaming. full review

September 17, 2009
Claudia Puig, USA Today

Those who love language and particularly poetic verse will savor the dialogue, as well as the visual splendor of the film. With its gorgeously framed shots and superb craftsmanship, Bright Star is a t... full review

September 16, 2009
A.O. Scott, The New York Times

The achievement of Jane Campion's learned and ravishing new film is to trace the comminglings and collisions of poetic creation and amatory passion. full review

September 15, 2009
Nick Schager, Lessons of Darkness

A period piece typified by restraint, delicacy and the romantic spirit of its renowned subject. full review

View more Bright Star reviews at RottenTomatoes.com

Comments

This board looks lonely. Be the first to talk about "Bright Star" !

Post A Comment | View All Comments

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

All Rotten Tomatoes content is used under license from Rotten Tomatoes. Rotten Tomatoes, Certified Fresh, and the Tomatometer are the trademarks of Incfusion Corporation, d/b/a Rotten Tomatoes, a subsidiary of IGN Entertainment, Inc.

Official Trailer

View Larger Bright Star Trailer

Cast

More Like This

This list looks lonely.
Add a suggestion!

Facts

No facts approved yet. Be the first

Bright Star : Watch Free on TV

Bright Star Trivia

  • Tagline: Bright Lights. Hit Songs. Country's biggest star. He'd trade it all to find the kind of love he'd only sung about.   Answer »
  • "I'm a star. A big bright shining star."  Answer »
  • Paul Walker-Cameron Bright star in this 2006 thriller....   Answer »
  • "So I'm gonna be nice... So I'm gonna be nice... So I'm gonna be nice, and I'm gonna ask you one more time. Where the fuck is Ringo? I am a star. I'm a star, I'm a star, I'm a star. I am a big, bright, shining star. That's right."   Answer »
More Bright Star Trivia

Movie Quizzes

No quizzes for Bright Star. Want to create one?

Video Clips

No video clips yet. Want to upload one?

Meet Other Fans

Add Bright Star to favorites

Recent News

Submit a Story |

View Bright Star News

Recent Lists

Make a List |

View All Lists

Most Popular Skin

No skins yet. Interested in creating one?